Shortly after leaving the Assembly at the end of his term in 1986, Naylor was elected Chairman of the California Republican Party, serving from 1987–1989. As party chair, he presided over Republican efforts to win California in the 1988 presidential election, which proved to be the last time Republicans have carried the state in a presidential election. Naylor has represented California as a delegate to ten Republican National Conventions, including in 1972, 1976, and 1980 (he was an alternate delegate in 2008).