A recently elected Democratic state lawmaker in California is leaving her party to become a Republican.
California State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil said she no longer identifies with her old party, which has moved radically to the left in recent years.
“In the past two years that I’ve been working in the Senate, I have not recognized the party that I belong to,” she told The Steve Hilton Show. “The Democratic Party is not the party that I signed up for decades ago.”
She now joins the outgunned Republican opposition in California, which is dominated by liberal Democrats.
“It’s not a very popular decision to leave a supermajority party where perhaps, you know, you have a lot more power and ability,” she said. “But this is a decision that is right for the constituents that voted me into office.”
Alvarado-Gil represents a rural, Republican-leaning district in the state Senate that covers a swath of Central California, including Modesto and Turlock.
She faced a progressive Democrat in the general election, and won, after advancing from a non-partisan primary crowded with Republican candidates.
During her time in Sacramento, she has become known for an independent streak, especially on crime.
She told the Sacramento Bee that her "last straw" was when the Democrats undermined a set of tough-on-crime bills that she supported with "poison pill" amendments.
State Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D) said her decision “is disappointing for voters” who elected her in 2022.
“They trusted her to represent them, and she’s betrayed that trust,” he said in a statement. “One silver lining is MAGA Republicans are gaining a pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, anti-Trump colleague. We wish her the best of luck.”
But Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones (R) applauded her independence.
"It takes courage to stand up to the supermajority in California and Marie has what it takes,” Jones said in a statement. “Her record on tackling crime, protecting communities from sexually violent predators, and prioritizing her constituents speaks for itself.”
Republicans often point to California as a cautionary tale of unchecked liberalism. Residents have fled the state over vagrancy, crime, and the high cost of living.
Recently, Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has started to crack down on the tent encampments that plague California's cities.
