CA State Sen. Removed from Latino Caucus After Switching Parties

California State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil has been removed from the Latino Caucus after switching her party affiliation.

Last week, Alvarado-Gil said she became a Republican because it was the “right thing to do.”

She told “The Issue Is” host Elex Michaelson that the “pendulum has swung so far to the left that it has disengaged from what true Californians value—our middle-class values, our families, our diversity in California. And frankly, I just could not support an ideology over the will of the people.”

Alvarado-Gil’s office called her removal from the Latino Caucus a “stunning display of political retribution.”

“Democrats in the California State Senate have responded to Senator Alvarado-Gil’s (R-Jackson) decision to leave the Democratic Party by stripping her of all her committee assignments and removing her from the Latino Caucus,” the statement said. “Despite these punitive actions, Senator Alvarado-Gil remains committed to representing the people of California, and her Senate District 4.”

“How far will the Democrats go because they’re angry?” Alvarado-Gil asked. “I can take whatever heat is coming my way and fully recognize it comes with the territory of leaving a supermajority that operates like a mob. They can attack me all they want, but the people of California do not deserve to suffer because of political vendettas.”

California’s Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire (D) told The Center Square that Alvarado-Gil was removed from committees to “reflect the balance of representation in the Senate.”

The Vice President of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, State Sen. Lena Gonzalez, said she was “disappointed” by Alvarado-Gil’s party switch.

“I am disappointed to hear of Senator Alvarado-Gil’s decision to become a Republican and embrace a party whose Presidential candidate consistently denigrates and targets our nation’s Latino community,” Gonzalez said, adding, “Regrettably, Senator Alvarado-Gil’s party change makes her ineligible to remain a member of the Latino Caucus. As the caucus has grown to a record number in recent years, we have benefitted from increasingly diverse viewpoints — particularly those representing our rural communities. We will miss her contributions to the caucus and hope she can move the Senate Republican Caucus away from the harsh rhetoric spewed by their national leaders.”

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