Uhm, this is patently false. California is gerrymandered to hell, there are safe Republican districts which elect some rather far-right representatives, to both national and state legislatures. It's actually very hard to be a moderate Republican in California. You're not right-wing enough to win the Republican districts, and still have the Republican stigma in the Democratic districts. It's only in full statewide elections that being a moderate Republican works, hence the governorship trending mostly that way.
It's actually the far-right Republicans who are part (but not all) of the problem with regards to the budget issues. They are mainly unwilling to compromise, any sort of tax increase is anathema, even the idea of bringing tax rates back to to late-1990s levels.