Royalist Party of San Francisco

  

Royalist Party of San Francisco
Leader	Benjamin Grant
Chairperson	Sharron Anderson
Founded	December 1, 1858
Headquarters	21st Street Woodside San Francisco
Newspaper	Royalist Bay Report
Ideology	Toryism One-nation conservatism Sierran humanism Sierran traditionalism Eco-conservatism Right-wing populism
Political position	Center-right
National affiliation	Royalist Party
Official colors	Purple
Provincial Assembly	17 / 118
K.S Senate Seats	0 / 7
K.S. House of Commons	0 / 10
Local legislatures	18 / 228

The Royalist Party of San Francisco, commonly known as the San Francisco Royalist Party, the San Fran Royalists and abbreviated as RPSF is the provincial affiliate of the Royalist Party of Sierra in San Francisco. The party's headquarters is in Woodside.

As of 2018, the San Francisco Royalist Party makes up around 10% of all registered voters and is in third place behind both the San Francisco Democratic-Republican Party and the Social Democratic Committee and is ahead of the San Francisco Green Party at 3% and the remaining 3% of voters that are either independent or belong to other parties. The Royalists currently hold only 17 seats in the Provincial Assembly, none of Senate or House of Commons seats since 2018 (Tim Allen previously served as the only Commoner before 2018), and at around 18% of mayoralties mostly centered in small towns and communities with populations of less than 10,000 people. The party's current leader is Benjamin Grant who has helped increase the image and media attention given to the party due to decades of being in the provincial opposition.

History

Foundation and 1860s

The San Francisco Royalist Party was founded on December 1, 1858 days after the formation of the Royalist Party and after San Francisco was reorganized into a province of the Kingdom of Sierra (previously a state of the California Republic). The party's first leader was Peter Burnett who was later elected the first Governor of San Francisco on the Royalist ticket. During the 19th century, the divide between the Royalists and Democratic-Republicans was based around regions and demographics with urban communities being Royalist dominated in the 1850s and rural communities being largely Democratic-Republican controlled. San Francisco was a unique exception in that both the provincial capital of San Francisco City and other urban areas were split between the Royalists and Democratic-Republicans. Burnett had wanted to maintain political unity in San Francisco and so he selected Matthew Broderick for the position of Lieutenant Governor in the 1865 election and won. The coalition government was formed as a means of helping maintain unity in the province which was of great concern as throughout the 1860s, the Democratic-Republican Party had become more and more vocal in seeking to abolish the monarchy and was riling up its supporters across the country.

Sierran Civil War

When the Sierran Civil War broke out in 1874, the Royalist Party had imposed martial law across San Francisco after the nearby provinces of the Styxie such as Santa Clara, San Joaquin, and Reno seceded from the union and joined the Second California Republic. At least 10,000 soldiers were drafted into the Sierran Royal Army to form the 1st San Francisco Infantry Division. Esteban Romero was the governor of the province at the time and faced heavy opposition from the Democratic-Republicans and heavily relied from aid from the federal government to maintain order in the province. By early 1875, San Francisco was captured by the Republican armies and Romero was arrested and imprisoned in the provincial capital for the rest of the war. Ships from the Sierran Royal Navy that were stationed in San Francisco were captured by Republicans forces and the San Francisco Bay was used as a naval base for the self-proclaimed Second California Republic. The San Francisco Royalists were banned as a political party throughout the entire Republican occupation and was forced to flee into exile escaping towards Southern Sierra. Members of the party that avoided being arrested and fled to the south formed an opposition government based in the southern counties of the province of Kings throughout the duration of the war. The party wouldn't return until early 1877 after San Francisco was recaptured by Monarchist forces and the San Francisco Royalists were allowed to take power in an interim and later post-war government.

Reconstruction era

Following the end of the Civil War, the San Francisco Royalist Party took over once again and briefly led a one-party government, but later allowed the Democratic-Republicans to run for office by 1879. By the war's end, the Democratic-Republicans were shaken by the effects of the war, but remained a strong opposition force despite being weakened with the loss of the radical republican faction. The Royalists helped rebuild the province, though only the small towns suffered severe damage and the provincial capital was largely spared from total destruction. As part of the Reconstruction Period, the Royalists sought to rehabilitate and integrate former Republican soldiers into mainstream Sierran society and de-radicalize the Democratic-Republican Party. Such efforts were met with mixed reactions, but not major violent incidents ever broke out. Romero would return to the position of Governor of San Francisco in 1878 and held the office until 1885 when he retired. He was later succeeded by George Stoneman, an American-born soldier and veteran of both the War of Contingency and Sierran Civil War, who was a Democratic-Republican and a member of its moderate loyalist faction. Throughout the remainder of the 19th century, both the Royalists and Democratic-Republicans had engaged in post-war bipartisan reconstruction despite disagreements over rehabilitation and concerns over radical republicans still lurking in the province and posing a threat.

Early 20th century

During the 20th century, large waves of immigration had great affected Sierra and the biggest were large numbers of immigrants coming from China. While the Democratic-Republicans were open to allowing them to come and the Royalists were vocal in allowing them to arrive in San Francisco, both parties faced significant opposition from the Know Nothings, a nativist political party that was formed in response to large numbers of non-white, non-European immigrants coming to Sierra. The Know Nothings gained influence in the more conservative districts in San Francisco and the less populated more rural communities outside of San Francisco City and were able to gain a legislative majority by 1902.

Elected officials

Statewide officials

• Benjamin Grant: Assembly Minority Leader
• Sharron Anderson: Assembly Deputy Minority Leader

Assembly seats

• Sharron Anderson: Representative of the 6th district
• Jordan Anderson: Representative of the 3rd District

Federal officeholders

Senate seats

• None

The most recent Royalist Senator from San Francisco was John Avenatti who represented the 3rd district in the Provincial Assembly. Avenatti was retired in 2015 and was succeeded by a Democratic-Republican, Evan Schumer.

House of Commons seats

• None

Tim Allen had previously served as a member of the House of Commons for the 3rd parliamentary district based in Woodside and other surrounding towns, but lost in 2018 and was succeeded by Social Democrat Lewis Eisenberg

Mayorships

• Duke Grassley: Mayor of Woodside

See also

• Royalist Party of Sierra
• Conservatism in the Kingdom of Sierra
  • Traditionalization