Partially, however, most of it was due to moves he made against organized religion. Olson, who was pretty open about being an atheist, was elected in 1938 running against an unpopular governor in Frank Merriam. The day after his election, The Sacramento Bee wrote in an editorial: "The attempt to smear Senator Olson with charges of radicalism [he had left-wing beliefs including atheism, he introduced OlsonCare long before ObamaCare] failed to arouse the desired unfavorable reaction. His record, both in public and private life, refuted such charges. And the majority of the people resented this unfair and below the belt type of political attack. They knew the cry of ‘Red’ was as insincere as it was untruthful."

The real kicker was Olson's distrust of the Roman Catholic Church. He disliked their "theopolitics" and made some legislative moves against the Catholics during his term. After his defeat in 1942 to Earl Warren, Olson remarked that his loss was due to "the active hostility of a certain privately owned power corporation and the Roman Catholic Church in California." (p.20)