Hard work and political engagement must take place, said Jack Hibbs, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, by Christians and right-leaning voters frustrated by decades of Democrat rule in their state.
Voter data from George Barna, at Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center, has indicated as many as 41 million Christians failed to cast a ballot in Tuesday's elections.
Down in Southern California, meanwhile, Hibbs took advantage of a California law that allows an individual or entity to collect and return vote-by-mail ballots on behalf of another voter. The result was almost 20,000 ballots collected by Calvary Chapel.
“Because God has made us the way that He has, we long for leadership and long for the truth," Hibbs told Washington Watch host Tony Perkins.
"God is stirring our hearts, and when a believer understands, ‘Wait a minute, this person’s running for mayor?’ When you see that happening, people want to do the right thing when the right thing’s been put in their heart,” Hibbs observed.
Hibbs encouraged his church members to vote and also discussed the issues they would be voting for or against. He urged them to vote for biblical values.
“Part of being a disciple is not only teaching your kids the word of God, but it’s also getting involved in this remarkable republic that the Lord has given us," Hibbs told the "Washington Watch" program.
"We take that very seriously here, and we are rejoicing in California that we just saw some 1,200 churches step, do voter registration, ballot collection up and down the state of California. It’s just beginning here,” Hibbs said.
Gascon gets the boot
The state's electoral votes predictably went to Harris with 57% of the vote but Hibbs pointed out there were down-ballot victories for conservatives. Gibbs said none was more important than the ouster of George Gascon, the crime-excusing Los Angeles County district attorney.
Gascon, a radical Marxist, was defeated by Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor, who ousted the district attorney with a 61%-38% defeat.
Gascon, who previously served as San Francisco district attorney, won the L.A. public office in the 2020 elections. That election came after a summer of marches and riots following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The newly-elected prosecutor quickly delivered on promises of "reforming" the criminal justice system. That meant barring prosecutors from seeking the death penalty; offering sentence enhancements; and stopping the prosecution of juveniles as adults, initiatives that drew fierce criticism from many within his department.
“Sin can only go so far. Sin cannot manage itself, and California has overplayed its hand in the area of being stupid,” Hibbs said of Gascon's re-election loss.
Californians 'fed up'
Californians feel overwhelmed by the illegals in the state and responded to that Tuesday night, Hibbs said.
“So people are fed up, Democrats and Republicans are fed up with the lawlessness and the fact that we’re being overrun by illegal aliens. The threatening part is some of them are going into abandoned homes, and they’re basically taking over.”
Californians passed Proposition 36, a massive tougher-on-crime initiative, with more than 70% of the vote.
Hibbs’ message, and his local area’s response to ballot collection efforts, were clearly part of the reason for Gascon’s election night struggles.
“We took a really bad idea, we circumcised it, dedicated it to the Lord, kept it extremely legal, and it has been a major, major impact,” Hibbs said.
Collected ballots didn’t come only from church members. The church was set up to take drive-up ballot drop-offs, a big hit with the local community.
“They brought their ballots, and they put them in the secure box without even leaving their car. It is legal in California,” Hibbs said.
Knowing their political enemies used the ballot collection, California's liberal politicians might rethink the ballot-collection law, the pastor predicted.
Building on the momentum
Whether California ever becomes a red state is doubtful, since Kamala Harris won 57%-40% over Trump, but the state's election map is much less blue after Trump flipped 10 counties to red that were blue in 2020.
Meanwhile, the church pastor said conservative gains on Tuesday encouraged Hibbs and his church to stay in the fight. He now has plans to take his vote for biblical values message downtown for the mid-terms.
California isn’t that different from many states, he says, with conservative voters in its outlying areas.
“This gives us a great addition to our strategy. We know when you break down the counties of California, they’re red, but it’s the inner city. From here on out we’re going to be really targeting the inner city and reaching those with a logical, sensible vote,” Hibbs said.
