Current:Home > Contact-usCalifornia lawmaker switches party, criticizes Democratic leadership-InfoLens
California lawmaker switches party, criticizes Democratic leadership
View Date:2024-12-23 10:45:46
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A moderate California Democratic state lawmaker announced Thursday that she is switching to the Republican Party while criticizing her former party’s leadership and policies.
State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil said she had long been a Democrat, but she and the Democratic Party no longer have the same values since she was elected in 2022.
“In the past two years that I’ve been working in the Senate, I have not recognized the party that I belong to,” Alvarado-Gil said in an announcement on “The Steve Hilton Show,” a YouTube series hosted by a conservative political commentator. “The Democratic Party is not the party that I signed up for decades ago.”
Alvarado-Gil represents a largely rural district northeast of the Central Valley. She said the Democratic Party’s policies are hurting middle class and children in California and pushing the state in a wrong direction.
“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.
She adds: “But this is a decision that is right for the constituents that voted me into office.”
Alvarado-Gil is known for her support of the tough-on-crime approach and fiscally conservative outlook. She also has voted with Republicans on labor legislation.
“It takes courage to stand up to the supermajority in California and Marie has what it takes,” Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said in a statement. “Her record on tackling crime, protecting communities from sexually violent predators, and prioritizing her constituents speaks for itself.”
Her defection gives Republicans nine votes in the 40-member Senate, still well under the majority they need to control the chamber. Democrats hold supermajorities in both the Assembly and Senate at the Capitol.
State Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire 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.
He added: “One silver lining is MAGA Republicans are gaining a pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, anti-Trump colleague. We wish her the best of luck.”
Alvarado-Gil, who represents a conservative-leaning district, won her 2022 election against a progressive Democrat by more than 5 points after the duo beat out six Republican candidates in the primary. Her district has become slightly more Republican since 2022, with Republicans having nearly 39% of registered voters to Democrats’ 34% in 2024.
Alvarado-Gil is not up for reelection until 2026.
There have been 273 lawmakers who switched parties during their time in office throughout California history, and it’s even less common for a member of the majority party to defect to another party, said California State Library legislative historian Alex Vassar. The most recent example was when former Assemblymember Dominic Cortese left the Democratic Party in 1995 to become a member of Ross Perot’s Reform Party.
veryGood! (155)
Related
- Veterans face challenges starting small businesses but there are plenty of resources to help
- Officials respond to pipeline leak at Point Thomson gas field on Alaska’s North Slope
- Mexican writer José Agustín, who chronicled rock and society in the 1960s and 70s, has died at 79
- Peregrine lunar lander to burn up in atmosphere in latest setback to NASA moon missions
- King Charles III celebrates 76th birthday amid cancer battle, opens food hubs
- An investigation is underway after police raided the wrong Ohio house, sending baby to ICU
- Ellen Pompeo's Teen Daughter Stella Luna Is All Grown Up in Emmys Twinning Moment
- 'Ideal for extraterrestrial travelers:' Kentucky city beams tourism pitch to distant planets
- LSU leads college football Week 11 Misery Index after College Football Playoff hopes go bust
- Italy’s regulations on charities keep migrant rescue ships from the Mediterranean
Ranking
- Jessica Simpson's Husband Eric Johnson Steps Out Ringless Amid Split Speculation
- Post Malone, The Killers and SZA among headliners for 2024 Governors Ball in NYC
- Integration of EIF Tokens with Education
- Ukraine needs money from the US and Europe to keep its economy running. Will the aid come?
- Black and Latino families displaced from Palm Springs neighborhood reach $27M tentative settlement
- Jordan Love's incredible rise validates once-shocking move by Packers GM Brian Gutekunst
- Georgia economist warns of recession as governor says his budget will spur growth
- Shark attacks 10-year-old Maryland boy during expedition in shark tank at resort in Bahamas
Recommendation
-
See Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani's Winning NFL Outing With Kids Zuma and Apollo
-
Wrestler Hulk Hogan helps rescue teenage girl trapped after Florida car crash
-
Bobi was named world’s oldest dog by Guinness. Now his record is under review.
-
NYPD says 2 officers shot during domestic call in Brooklyn expected to recover; suspect also wounded
-
Are Ciara Ready and Russell Wilson Ready For Another Baby? She Says…
-
The Integration of EIF Tokens in the Financial Sector
-
A Guide to Michael Strahan's Family World
-
China’s population drops for a second straight year as deaths jump