Conservative Democrats are increasingly common in California.
Politicians aren't stupid, and many parts of California are simply unwinnable for Republican's no matter what their policies are. This has led to a lot of people who would have previously been registered as Republicans (and in some cases...who WERE previously registered as Republicans) to run as Democrats in order to have a shot at winning. Because the state party tends to be more interested in winning than ideals, some of these guys can make it pretty far.
The problem is that California, for decades, was ground zero for so-called "liberal Republicans". They tended to be libertarian on social issues (equal rights, gay rights, etc), and while taking fiscally conservative, pro-business positions. That leads to thinking like "people have a right to form unions (libertarian), but those rights need to be limited to protect the economy (pro-business)". Their libertarian social positions have made it easy for them to jump to the Democratic party, and for some of them to achieve a LOT of power and support (*cough*Gavin Newsom*cough*).
While a "liberal Republican" may be able to easily change suits with a "fiscally moderate Democrat", it still doesn't make them a genuine liberal or progressive. At best, they're centrists. Usually they don't even bother coming that far left.
It's rare to see one out himself like this though.