Democratic California state senator switches to GOP

A Democratic state senator from California has switched her party affiliation to Republican, she announced Thursday.

Now-Republican state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil suggested she was dismayed by the state’s Democratic supermajority.

“Since I’ve served in our state’s Capitol, I’ve had a front-row seat to witness the supermajority push California in the wrong direction, having a grave effect on our once golden state,” she said. “I cannot stand by a party that ignores the will of the people and disregards the core American values that my very community supports and believes in.”

Alvarado-Gil gave her first interview on Thursday night, saying she switched despite being a Democrat her whole life.

“It was the right thing to do,” she said. “I’ve been a Democrat my whole adult life. … The Democratic Party of today is not the Democratic Party that I signed up with as a new voter. The pendulum has swung so far to the left that it has disengaged from what true Californians value.”

She took office in December 2022 and served almost two years before changing her party affiliation. Before the switch, she was known as a centrist Democrat who supported Israel but engaged with pro-LGBT and abortion-rights causes. She was the only state Senate Democrat to vote against investigating and possibly capping oil profits in 2023.

“I just could not support an ideology over the will of the people,” she said.

California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones commended Alvarado-Gil for her decision, highlighting the Republican Party’s commitment to “addressing the real issues facing communities across the state.”

“It’s no secret that California’s political landscape is heavily weighted to the left, but with increasing attention on issues worsened by Democrat policies, we can continue making strides in our fight,” Jones said. “The pendulum is swinging in this great state. If we’re going to fix California, we need pragmatic leaders like Marie who have seen firsthand the impact of the supermajority’s policies on communities and want to change it for the better.”

California Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, a Democrat, appeared to have mixed feelings about her departure.

“This is disappointing for voters who elected Senator Alvarado-Gil as a Democrat,” he said. “They trusted her to represent them, and she’s betrayed that trust. Senate Democrats will continue to work on their behalf and deliver results for rural California. One silver lining is MAGA Republicans are gaining a pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, anti-Trump colleague. We wish her the best of luck.”

It is not known if she supports Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. In her interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles, she remained noncommittal, just remarking she is looking for “someone who can embrace the diversity of our country and lead us into the next generation.”

“I’m going to be watching both of our candidates very closely between now and the election,” she said.

When pressed on her choice, she said, “We’ll see you in November, and we’ll have that conversation.”

Her party switch won’t upset the state’s Senate balance much. The 40-seat California State Senate shifts from a plus-24 Democratic majority to a plus-23.

But it is one of the state’s highest-profile party switches in recent years, and each state senator represents nearly 1 million Californians.