The California legislature has Democratic super majorities in both Houses but progressives have it difficult to mass significant legislation because so many legislators are conservative DINOs. One, freshman state Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil, just jumped the fence and joined the party her soul always belonged in anyway— the GOP. That was done, at least in part, because her district, the central eastern part of the state, is very red and she was going to face near-certain defeat in 2026 from a strong Republican challenger. Romney won the district with 52.6% in 2012; Trump won it with 50.4% in 2016 and with 51.4% in 2020. The current party registration looks like this:
Republican- 37.3%
Democratic- 33.9%
No Party Preference- 21.4%
The district includes Placer (Trump 52.1%), El Dorado (Trump 53.2%), Amador (Trump 60.9%), Alpine (Biden 64.2%), Calaveras (Trump 60.8%), Tuolumne (Trump 58.2%), Mariposa (Trump 57.9%), Stanislaus (Biden 49.2%), Madera (Trump 54.7%), Merced (Biden 54.1%), Mono (Biden 59.6%), Nevada (Biden 56.1%) and Inyo (Biden 48.9%) counties. It stretches from north of Lake Tahoe to Death Valley and includes 2 small cities, Modesto and Turlock.
In 2022, when Republican Jim Nielsen was termed out, 6 Republicans and 2 Democrats competed in the jungle primary. The 6 Republicans split 59.2% of the vote, resulting in the two Democrats— the conservative Alvarado-Gil and progressive Tim Robertson— as the two top vote-getters. Robertson came in first but in the general election, enough conservative Republicans rallied around Alvarado-Gil for her to prevail by 5 points.
She’s been a crap senator since arriving in Sacramento, defining herself as an anti-union shill for special interests who opposes progressive solutions to California’s problems. Now she’s part of the 9 person minority in the 40-member chamber. But passing legislation isn’t what drove Alvarado-Gil. It was always her career first and foremost. Now the Sacramento Republicans have warmly welcomed her into their arms— or at least most of them have. Unhinged MAGA sociopath Bill Essayli went on a Twitter rampage against Alvarado-Gil’s decision, calling her “an opportunistic liberal State Senator who endorsed Kamala Harris and only switched Republican for political purposes. Alvarado-Gil knows she is out of touch with her district and she knows Chief Jeramy [the Livermore police chief] will beat her in 2026. We do not need or want fake Republicans in our Party… She’s not welcome. We don’t need any more RINO’s in the party. We’re all stocked up. Has she even renounced her Kamala Harris endorsement yet?”
MAGA’s in-house openly gay fascist, Ric Grenell joined Essayli— one of the legislature’s most deranged homophobic extremists— in his denunciation of Alvarado-Gil: “This is a total Republican seat. And she’s a fraud. She’s endorsed Kamala Harris, the most left wing radical that’s ever been a nominee for President. The joke is on the voters who would be duped by her ‘switch.’”
As for Alvarado-Gil, she’s urging other right-wing Democrats to join her on the other side of the aisle: “The Democratic party has swung too far. The pendulum is broken. This will allow others struggling with that decision to step forward. It only takes one person to create that safety. The path to safety is to open that door and walk through it. For those who want to walk through it, I will be there to greet them.” Two of the most right-wing (and corrupt) recent Democratic state legislators— Rudy Salas and Adam Gray— are heavily backed by the DCCC as congressional candidates.
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