Except it’s really not. The real estate industry, the entertainment industry and PG&E get away with murder in California. Literally, in the case of at least one of them.
Neoliberalism, which is the main ideology of the California political elite, is still very pro-corporate and susceptible to legal bribes from billionaires and their corporations.
That’s mostly true, but some people who aren’t generally that pro-establishment themselves still see it as inherently trustworthy and politically left of center even though it’s neither. I blame MSM being an invariably pro-establishment circlejerk.