Elected as a Democrat to the California State Assembly in 1936, Yorty established himself as a politician with integrity, but watched his popularity plummet when he reported a bribery attempt on a pending bill. Yorty advocated state ownership of public utilities and strong labor unions, showing a liberal approach to politics. His support of the Republicans in Spain's civil war against General Francisco Franco and his fight against using the California Highway Patrol to end labor strikes helped earn him support of the local Communist Party United States of America organization. That support haunted Yorty in 1938, when he was branded a communist by Folsom Prison inmate Arthur Kent during testimony before the California Un-American Activities Committee. Kent, who claimed to have been a local membership chairman of the Communist Party, proved to be untrustworthy and Yorty was vindicated. That episode, plus the refusal of the local Communist Party to endorse him for mayor of Los Angeles that year, began a shift of Yorty's political beliefs.