Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe — an outspoken Democrat who has compared the MAGA agenda to Nazism — may not be quite the underdog some would have expected while running for a state Assembly seat out of deep-red Huntington Beach.
Kluwe was arrested in February for protesting the installation of a MAGA plaque at a public library during a City Council meeting last year, but he appears to be seeing a surge in support for Orange County’s Assembly seat — not just because of his opposition to President Trump, but also his candid criticism of career politicians on the left.
“I’m running as a Democrat, but I have my issues with the Democratic Party,” Kluwe told The Post in an exclusive interview.
“If what we were doing was working, then we wouldn’t be in this position.”
Kluwe, a former Minnesota Vikings punter who accused the team of releasing him in 2013 for his support for gay marriage, graded Gov. Gavin Newsom’s time in office as a C+ to B-, saying the governor has consistently kowtowed to big tech.
“He’s pushed for a lot of good things for people, but at the same time, it’s very clear he’s also been beholden to powerful corporate interests. He’s backed down on issues, particularly artificial intelligence issues … because he’s making a presidential run and he wants Silicon Valley’s money.”
Kluwe has raised more than $351,000 overall, outpacing Republican Huntington Beach Councilwoman Gracey Van Der Mark’s of $279,000 and former Republican Assemblyman Matthew Harper’s $217,555, according to campaign records.
Kluwe is betting he can survive the top-two primary because the Republican vote could split between Van Harper and Van Der Mark, the latter of whom scored the state GOP endorsement despite past associations with the Proud Boys and posting a Youtube playlist titled “Holocaust hoax?”
“I am fully cognizant of the registration numbers of the district, and it does lean Republican by like seven or eight points by registration,” Kluwe said. “But the thing is, I grew up in this district.
“The vast majority of people who live here, particularly in this district, really just want their government to work and to leave them alone. They don’t want culture war nonsense.”
Harper, who has won nine elections and served on almost every level of local government before two terms in the Assembly, predicted he will likely be shut out of the runoff — and he called it a major risk for Republicans around the state.
“My opponent [Van Der Mark] represents a major threat to the Republican Party if advanced to the general election,” Harper said.
“Democrats will use her as an albatross around the necks of other Republican candidates.”
Kluwe’s campaign has major institutional backing from the state Democratic Party, and California Labor Federation and SEIU California, as well as elected officials like state Attorney General Rob Bonta and Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia.
After being fired from a high school football coaching job after his arrest in February 2025, Kluwe said he has no interest in running beyond the maximum 12 years allowed in the Legislature.
“You shouldn’t be looking at this as a job you’re keeping for your life,” he said.
“You’re here to try to solve problems, and then you go back to doing whatever it was you were doing before. That’s clear in the vision that the founders had for our country. It was never meant to be a permanent political class job.”
Matthew Klink, a conservative political strategist in Southern California, said Kluwe may have a chance despite President Trump carrying the region by 2.6 points in 2020 and 2.7 points in 2024.
“The fact that he’s the only Democrat in the race almost guarantees that he’ll be in the runoff, and then the question is can the other candidate consolidate Republican support,” Klink said.
He added that Kluwe’s “progressive populist” message is “a smart play on his part.”
“The demographics of Orange County have changed,” Klink said. “Hungtington Beach is a conservative bastion, but other parts of the district are a lot like downtown Los Angeles.”
