State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil has switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party in the middle of her first term in the California Legislature.
The new lawmaker, who represents the rural 4th Congressional District, the state’s largest Senate district by area, is the first Democratic lawmaker in 80 years to change party affiliation mid-term, according to a report from the California State Library.
“Since serving in our state’s Capitol, I have witnessed firsthand how the overwhelming majority pushed California in the wrong direction, with serious implications for our once golden state,” Alvarado-Gil said in a press release. “The Democratic Party is unrecognizable from what I once knew and lacks the will to solve the problems plaguing this state. I cannot support a party that ignores the will of the people and disregards the fundamental American values that my community supports and believes in.”
Some believe that this move has less to do with political ideology than with political expediency.
“She won in 2022 because the field was so good for her,” said one Democratic politician who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I just don’t see a way she could win again.”
Mike Lynch, a longtime state and federal policy consultant, believes the move could pay off.
“It could benefit her politically,” Lynch said. “Even if she runs as a Republican, she could get a lot of votes from Democrats who say, ‘Hey, she’s done a good job for us, and I’m going to vote for her no matter what letter is after her name.'”
Unsurprisingly, this move was not well received by the state’s democratic leadership.
“This is disappointing for the voters who elected Senator Alvarado-Gil as a Democrat,” said Deputy Senator Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) in a statement. “They trusted her to represent them, and she betrayed that trust. Senate Democrats will continue to stand up for her and deliver results for rural California. One bright spot is that MAGA Republicans are gaining a colleague who is pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ+ rights, and anti-Trump. We wish her the best of luck.”
Luck may indeed have played a role in Alvarado-Gil’s victory two years ago, when she beat nine other candidates in the open primary. She won the lottery when eight Republicans battled it out and shared more than 130,000 votes. That cleared the way for Alvarado-Gil and fellow Republican Tim Robertson – who shared 90,000 votes – to advance to the general election and deny the ruby-red district a Republican option.
District 4 – which consists of all or parts of Stanislaus, Merced, Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, Placer and Tuolumne counties – was only one of six of the 40 Senate districts where more Republicans than Democrats were registered.
Overall, there are more than 600,000 registered voters in the Fourth District, but two years ago only about 220,000 of them participated in the primary election and about 260,000 cast their ballots in the general election.
Former Hughson Mayor Jeramy Young, a Republican and current Livermore police chief, on Thursday officially filed his bid for the 4th District seat in 2026.
“My constituents need to know that my values and priorities will not change,” said Alvarado-Gil, who lives in Jackson. “I will continue to fight for economic affordability, public safety, housing and homelessness. I look forward to working with my Republican colleagues and leading them in their mission to fix California.”
According to the State Library, Southern California State Senator Jack Tenney was the last Democrat to switch parties during the legislative session, joining the Republicans on September 24, 1944. In the state’s history, 273 legislators have belonged to more than one political party, with most of these party switches occurring during the Civil War (1861–1865) and the Progressive Era (1900–1930).
The last representative to switch from the majority to the minority party was Representative Bill Dannemeyer. He served two terms as a Democrat in the 1960s and returned to the House for one term as a Republican in the 1970s.
