EXCLUSIVE: Democrat State Senator Becomes Republican

the Democratic party as I said that I grew up idolizing is not the Democratic party of today it's about leading with humility and With Honor versus the Democratic party which really for me has become the party of arrogance and entitlement so I have to ask myself who am I and what are my values perhaps you can tell me if there's any precedent for this I can't think of one in recent history is a really big deal hello everyone welcome to this special bonus edition of The Steve Hilton show we have a really interesting guest for you who has a big announcement a fascinating one um it's going to be a great conversation I'm really looking forward to it um and it is a senator from California from the state senate in California she's joining us now Senator Marie Alvarado Gil uh Senator it's great to see you today especially because you have a really big announcement and you're doing it right here with us so over to you tell us what you have to say well hello Steve I wanted to start out and just let you know that I'm a super fan I've been listening to your podcast now for a few years and I find myself getting into a very uh colorful debate as I'm driving home from the capital listening to your podcast so it's uh it's an honor for me to be on your show today to uh talk about something that's very personal to me and is important to Californians not only across my district but across the state and tell us what that is I should point out that uh if someone looked you up on the uh State Senate website or in any other place um and they would say well who is this Senator and uh they look up your district and your party there is a d after your name Dem sure is there is so tell us but that's changing so tell us what's happening yes so uh I've been a Democrat for as long as I can remember I voted first when I was 18 um a while ago and um I have reflected on this uh for quite some time I've served now in the senate for two years this is my first position in elected office I represent a district that is dynamic diverse amazing um it's the part of California that I grew up in and it's the part of California that I love Senate District 4 which encompasses the Eastern side of California very rural rich in resource our es and really uh personifies um the American values and uh in the past two years that I've been working in the Senate I have not recognized the the party that I belong to the Democratic party is not the party that I uh signed up for decades ago um this is not the the party that um I uh believed would take us into the direction of California of of making sure we lift up the middle class and um we move in the direction that our kids can have that California dream that we as parents have sacrificed so much um so I came to the realization after much reflection and um prayer uh that it is time for me to give up that D and to cross over to join my colleagues in the Republican caucus here in California wow that is a very big announcement and I've got to say very unusual in California I I don't know my history um perhaps you can tell me if there's any precedent for this um so I can't think of one in recent history it is a really big deal yeah we don't think that this has been done before we think it should be done more often um but as you can imagine um it's not a a very popular uh decision to leave a super majority party uh where perhaps you know you have a lot more power and ability to to engage in in the political environment um to a a party that right now was in the minority um so you know I certainly have taken that into account but this is a not only a personal decision but this is a decision that is right for the constituents that voted me into office and I came into this uh two years ago uh because my first grandchild was born and I um you know between my husband and I we raised six kids and I'll tell you congratulations yeah um you know not a single one of them can afford to live in California on their own this is it yeah you know and this isn't anything new um and you know I'll say you know both my husband and I have have uh great careers um first in our family to kind of pull ourselves up from the bootstraps um go to school get a great job and you know the California Dream for us was you know make great decisions get a good job buy your first house raise your family and I'm seeing that the generations uh after us are looking at that California Dream and saying this is not a place that I can raise my family so the concept of me not being able to see my grandson grow up in California in the state that I was born and that I've been raised and um you know I've done all my work here just as my constituents have right and it's not that we can roll up our farms and our businesses and take our family with us and make that decision to leave California so the decision for me to stay in fight with a party that is truly looking to fix California because I'll tell you if the Democratic party really wanted to make the changes they would have done it they've having the super majority having the position um in the executive branch having the the resources there really is no excuse for it other than not having the political will I've had a front row seat to this and and you know this because again I've been listening to your podcast for quite some time and and your listeners have given you that testimony over and over again um so so a as as a witness I'm here saying I've seen it I've tried this uphill battle for two years having a seat at the table and the reality is California is in a worse situation than when I was elected two years ago than we are right now it's amazing um there's so many i' I've got to tell you I really have you know I'm my my you have the sort of Shivers listening to you because what you're saying is I mean I'm not kidding almost word for word the things that I say is I'm on the road up and down California speaking to audiences of all kinds different groups some of them political some of them less political and one of the things I say particularly to Republican audiences when you know a big Focus area for me in terms of policy and my organization golden together is housing it's the first issue we looked at um home ownership and that dream of owning your own home and a lot of Republicans haven't been particularly focused on that issue to be honest and and a lot of said why are you talking about housing and I said it's for human reasons and I literally say what you've just said which is that it's the number one reason people are leaving the state and it breaks up families because when children can't raise a family in California they have to move to another state that means grandparents can't see their grandchildren I I say that all the time and that's when people start to realize that actually it's a really big deal I've got so many questions um I want to get into some of the policy areas and so on but actually I'm really interested because this is such an unusual thing and it's not the normal kind of conversation we have on this show I'm actually really interested in the the personal aspect in terms of how it felt how it feels for you I mean this is very new we we're actually recording this on Wednesday before the announcement so the world will know by the time they watch this but at this point the world doesn't know um how how does it feel it must be very nerve-wracking I mean you've got a lot of relationships I'm assuming on the with with your colleagues former colleagues in the Democrat Party still colleagues in the legislature um how does it feel right um it feels like the right thing to do and you know I'm I'm no stranger to doing the right thing um you know I've I've continued to to lead with my values and have brought my worlds of experience into the way that I represent my district and for me this is the right thing for California because I know I'm not the only one that thinks this way I know I'm not the only former Democrat that wants California to move in a better direction for our families for our businesses um for our Californians and to stand up and say what the Democratic party is doing is wrong and to own that sentence and own that and make such a bold decision to leave the party and this isn't to leave the party as an independent this is to leave the party to join a party that has the formula to fix California and actually again the other thing I was I was so you know excited to hear you say because it's again the the part of my you know remarks at almost every event which is that restoring the California Dream It's not complicated it's not even ideological it's very practical Common Sense things what do we do so people can have a good job that's enough to provide for their family to own their own home in a safe neighborhood send their kids to a good school so they had the kind of education that allows them to have a better life right than they had I mean that's the that's what people want simple as that so let's just talk about public education for a moment here and it's no secret California is one of the worst performing public education systems in the country and we boast our economy of being the fourth or fifth depending on who you ask strongest economy in the world yet when we look at how we treat our kids some of the most vulnerable of our society our public education system continues to fail them over and over over and over again so I actually uh before I was in this in this senate seat I was in the charter school movement opening schools for disadvantaged um communities um black and brown communities throughout the Bay Area and people would ask me you know Marie why why did you choose to work with Charter Schools when there's such a controversy of being a Democrat um working with Charter Schools and I said because it's the right thing to do and because I can do the math I can read the numbers that we have kidss that are being left behind and seeing in them that same image of myself when I was a kid because my my parents immigrated to the US um legally as teenagers with that sacrifice of leaving their family behind their Community behind all their belongings their language um my father was a cook um at Denny's and my mom was a homemaker and did ironing on the side but they sacrificed that because they wanted my brother and I to have an access to education and a better life than they had I mean can you just just imagine right what what what goes through our parents mind to make that decision right and you know I can say yes you know my brother and I have had um you know an uphill battle to get to a great place in our life but the fact of the matter is that there are still kids that look like me that have the story of of immigrant parents um first generation second generation that are still struggling in just basic math and reading and we as a state so rich in resources if that is not a measurement of our failure then tell me what is it's unbelievable I know and and the thing that's so interesting from a political point of view is that that actually and this is the opportunity I think for Republicans is to really make this point because actually it's the communities that Democrats traditionally you know I'm I think there I mean I'd love to hear your perspective on this from having been inside the party I think they definitely claim to speak for communities of color for Latino communities for black communities Asian communities in but in when you listen to the to the rhetoric it's Latino and black communities particularly that you hear in the language of Democrats in California and and I to a certain extent I imagine that they believe it you know they're not lying when they say that they really sincerely think that they're helping but actually when you look at the results it's those communities that are hurt the most that's right where the results are worst and so tell me about that a little bit like what do you what what do you think's going on inside the party having been inside and seen it why don't things change I mean surely they see the results I mean it's very very clear how badly wrong things are going right I mean it is very clear and I I think for me the knowing things are headed in the wrong direction but then taking action is a whole other step and and this is what I'm doing I'm taking action by leaving the Democratic party and moving um towards a a caucus that I have worked with um these are colleagues that we have partnered on legislation Common Sense legislation Public Safety legislation we've gone to um to address issues around the fentanyl crisis the homeless crisis and again um to have a a a Democrat and the Senate partnering with Republicans in the Senate on bills and and still hitting those brick walls you have to ask yourself whatat is wrong with the system that doesn't see that we are hurting Californians by not promoting some of these uh Public Safety bills and education bills so for example you know people ask me they say well you know Senator what was the last straw for you in making this decision and I was the the first Senator to withdraw my name from the retail theft package bills in the Senate that had the poison pill and never in my life have I seen the type of shenanigans political shenanigans that I witnessed here around the Prop 47 um initiative um the governor's intrusion um and just the lack of transparency to voters so that for me was the last STW and so when you talk about um how we treat black and brown people in California I think about who are we protecting when we don't allow Common Sense Public Safety bills to move through committee um we're protecting an ideology not the people of California it is it is exactly right Yos we it's like we've been you know talking without knowing it because I say that the whole time it's so ideological it's not practical what you're getting when you I mean were were there moments in the two years that you were there where you felt really I mean you'd have do you have arguments and would they try and shut you down I mean for example I'm I'm trying to recall I think there was an incident where the Govern someone in the governor's office did some really punitive action against an assembly member that voted the wrong way or wouldn't you know they there there's a real kind of tendency to bully people who don't fall in line I've SE I'm not quite remembering the incident correctly perhaps you'll remember but if you try and stand up to it what happened well I I will say this so um this the Senate and the assembly we kind of have a a a a similar culture but very distinct um I will say that I've now uh been able to serve under two uh proems um Senator uh meredi Atkins and um uh protm Maguire now and I can't say enough good things about both of them um their level of integrity and Leadership uh for me has been such a learning opportunity and it really is because I see what good leaders are able to do um is is moving me in this direction um I've heard the horror stories in the assembly I've seen it I've talked to some of my colleagues I have not experienced that in the Senate right I have been given the ability to speak on behalf of my constituents vote the the way that my constituents expect me to vote um I have informed myself from both sides of a controversial issue to make sure that when I come to the microphone and put my name on a vote it is mine it doesn't belong to the party and so I feel very good about that um and that's not going to change so my values are not changing my Approach is not changing what is changing is the D behind my name and I'm aligning myself with a party that will continue to move us forward with the will and the solutions that will allow us to turn California around because I'm not leaving I'm not leaving Steve you're gonna have to take me out kicking and screaming but I cannot in good conscience call myself a Democrat and sit at a table where the meals that I'm being served are not the same that's being served to the progressive left so we're a fractured party it's a party that is leading by uh special interests and not by the will of the people yeah right I think you've really got to the heart of it there because particularly when you think of the education issue feels like that's a really great example of that where there's this iron grip it seems of when you talk about special interest let's be specific the teacher unions on policym um and you and we'll get to housing in a minute there's a there's a union aspect to that as well which most people aren't aware of but the teacher Union particularly we saw in the pandemic but it's I mean in relation to Charter Schools I mean you you have your background in charter schools they've they've made it increasingly difficult for charter schools in the state of California haven't they that's right that's right and you know I raised three kids too that had special needs and I'll tell you Steve as an advocate for my own kids it was very very difficult for them to get services in public education which meant that I pulled them out into the non-traditional and helped to actually start Carter schools that allowed for kids to be creative and kids to be different um and for parents to be able to go to work every day and know that their kids are going to be safe not bullied or ridiculed or even uh isolated and and kind of uh stereotyped as unable to learn um so for me it was it started out as being personal but I realized that I was not only speaking on behalf of myself and my family as a parent but I was speaking on behalf of all those other parents that for whatever reason we're not able to advocate for what is right and and what is ethical and moral for their kids and so I really just took that experience um into my my career and um I haven't wavered on that I haven't wavered on that with you know the the fruits and tomatoes being thrown at me at Schoolboard meetings I've St stood by my values because it's the right thing to do um and I know I'm not alone in this and so for me I'm hoping that this courageous step and me coming um coming on your show and and making this a public U kind of transition from Democrat to Republican will allow some of our Californians who are uh disillusioned disconnected with either the far far left or the far right that are in that middle I want them to know that they have a representative they have a voice and the middle class in California deserves to have the agency that we've lost over these last decades with Democratic rule I think it is incredibly important because it gives a permission structure um to use the jargon because um and I'd love you to talk about this a little bit because you hear over and over again I've heard this for years actually but it's been building there's more and more people say this to me I mean I'm here in the Bay Area very very Democratic area lots of people um increasing numbers actually just saying yeah we we need a change we need a change this can't go on like this but I'm not sure I can you know I'm not not sure about saying I'm going to vote Republican or be a Republican and so one thing you hear all the time is that the if you like the I mean you talk about D and R the R against your name as a candidate the brand Republican in California that there's something off-putting about that that's holding people back because I do get the sense and I think some of the polling data shows it as well which is that I mean certainly there's a majority who think the state's going in the wrong direction I believe it's in the 60% Now 60 plus% think the state's going in the wrong direction but there's this question of well can I go all the way and say yeah I'm going to vote Republican so you doing this I think is very very powerful but could you just speak to that um issue of the Republican brand and and how it's seen here in California what the components of that might be and what the party what the Republican Party could or should do to change that right right well I'll just start by saying that so I I grew up in m you I grew up in in the Bay Area um you know I still remember the the little house that we had I had the the porch and the side car and the dog and we had Acres of apricot trees and cherry trees and oh apricots you remember that right and I don't remember I've seen pictur but I mean I can't imagine now but it's that's right that's the history of the of a lot of what's now Silicon Valley that's right that's right and like slowly but surely my family went moving you know farther north and now farther east in California but there was a time in California and I remember this because I remember the um personification of being a Reagan Democrat and I remember that that as a young person having so much hope and love for my state um and not imagining living anywhere else right and things have changed um the the Democratic party as I said that I grew up in in idolizing is not the Democratic party of today and when I think about our our uh Republican Republicans in California we are very different than the national Republicans um but we do know that the rhetoric at the national level tends to permeate here at the state level so I um I I fall back on the colleagues that I've worked with side by side for years now here in the Senate and the assembly and the amount of work that we've been able to accomplish together is phenomenal um the conversations are authentic um they are true to representing our constituents and being public servants um not servants to a party or to an ideology or even to special interests it's about the people and it's about um leading with humility and With Honor versus the Democratic party which really for me has become the party of arrogance and entitlement so I have to ask myself who am I and what are my values and for me the decision was very clear now um as you mentioned we're recording before uh kind of the begin announcement here and we know we're going to get some feedback we're going to get some comments my social media is going to blow up you know we'll we'll have some some uh some rhetoric there to see but this this is going to be a healthy debate this is gonna be a healthy conversation because we are going to hear first and foremost what is it that the Republican party needs to do to speak to Californians who are disconnected and disenfranchised and the first thing that I'm going to say here is I want to lead in the messaging around sell celebrating a diverse California yes right a California that brings ideas and businesses and and culture and tradition to California because that is the richness of our state and we need to allow that to be an asset of California and not a point of division and I say this you know I I I went to public school and you know I'm not a I was never a math major but I know that multiplication and addition is stronger than Division and subtraction and that's what I want for the Republican party that I'm going to be part of and leading in this message well let me say Amen to that that is exactly you know what what I believe and and what I think is happening actually I see it and and and that's the message that that I'm out there giving and and and you think that's that's California I mean that's what's so wonderful about California there's a phrase that I use all the time um if anyone's listening and they've heard me at one of the events that I've been doing up and down the state you'll you know what I'm going to say because I pretty much finish every event with it um which which is why it's so special that we fight why it's so important that we fight for California because it's special it's something it's bigger than actually for our communities and our future here as individuals and families and neighbors and friends it's actually bigger than that because California means more than that and the phrase that I read it's not my phrase I read it in a book um last year is California means to America what America means to the world that's right and the reason I mentioned that at this point is that if we think of America as this amazing you know The Shining City on a Hill the place that is just the inspiration to the world where anyone can come as your parents did and I my I did with my family become an American right um which can't happen anywhere else it's only this country you can do that um and if that's America that that phrase California means to America what America means to the world is that California should be Absolut the ultimate expression of that like the best expression of what it means to be American in other words that idea of people coming here to follow their dream and we welcome everyone who wants to do it and and be a a strong part of the community and and support that dream for others I think that's exactly right and now that we have I mean you look at the demographics of California bring it back to the sort of facts of of where we are I make this point the whole time Latino is now the largest demographic group 40% of California the breakdown for those who who like numbers 40% Latino 35% white 15% Asian 5% % black 5% native and there's an others that that go into that category so that's the future of California I mean my organization golden together we just sponsored a report with Chapman University uh the title of the report El futuro es Latino the future is Latino that is true and because the numbers are there and that's a great thing um that we should celebrate and so I totally agree with you about that and the thing that unites us should be this idea of the California Dream that's right that's right the the the indicator there is should right should and and you would think that a super majority that has the power and the resources and the numbers will so the question is why not and why haven't they so I I don't want to serve another two years U of my four-year term asking that question it's it's it's time to to take take the the bull by the horns if you will right a and um and and get off the ride that just keeps bucking you off very good and so how's so have you been sort of ining your way towards this have you been having you know like little sort of private conversations and winking at to your you know Republicans and saying you know just hang on a few weeks or has you know how's how's the process been is is what I'm ask yeah no no winking happening over here um you know I I've my husband and I we we took our our little vacation uh last week um you know uh serving in public office you know takes a toll on a relationship we don't see other that often I I do drive home every day uh come to the capital every day um and you know we we talk a lot about what's happens in in the capital and you know kind of the backstage uh prep on on different things and you know he was the one that that inspired me to run for office to begin with um and he has been that that person behind me saying you know you need to question whether or not you are aligned with the ideologies of the democ atic party and if you're truly serving your constituents so I want to thank him for being that support uh in in my life um and last week it's I said to him I'm I'm going for it we're making that decision so uh coming back to Sacramento as you know we were back in session this week right yeah um and so you know I I believe in transparency I've had um some courtesy conversations with my uh leadership on my team my chief of staff my press secretary my district director wanting to make sure that they know that this is a a decision and why I'm making this decision um I don't want there to be any surprises you know this is a team that's stuck with me for for quite some time um you know I mentioned to you uh the protm Maguire who has uh i' I've known for a few decades now um he saw me raise my kids um back in a district where he was the County Supervisor um and I had this conversation with him as well and um you know that's Integrity that is the Integrity a and respect um that I uh I treat others with and you know often times in politics you don't see that that often right it's like you know the the backstabbing and the you know unders skirting right um but again you know I I feel good about leading with my values I feel good in being able to um look at myself in the mirror and say that this is a decision that is the right decision for my family for my district and for California the state that I love and I will continue to fight for and what about the what about your constituents and the District so I mean what would you say to I mean I guess you will be seeing them they'll say okay I guess prepare your answer which is well hang on a second we voted for you as a Democrat and now you're turning around as a republican how does that work it's not fair we need a new election you know just address those sorts of arguments well you know my my election was a very interesting election so um I actually was able to get on the ballot as part of the Open primary system that you know has been in California for about 10 years so I was uh one of two Democrats running for this seat in Senate District Four and we had six Republicans that were vying for this seat it was an open seat after redistricting and so um I you know I was uh moving for that SEC seat number two to uh be able to go up against a republican in the general knowing that my district is leans more center right um we have a higher percentage of Republican voters in our district than we do Democrats um oh yeah yeah very interesting um and much to my shrin it turned out to be a Dem ondem uh General race oh because there was so many Republicans they divided it up that's right so I will tell you um my my constituents have been um kind of shaken up for the past two years right um but you know bottom line is I have served them since day one um I have brought the their voices to the capital and I have have earned that respect and that trust um to be able to go into their living rooms into their businesses to be welcomed um as their Senator not as a democr but as their Senator and um that is not going to change my commitment to my constituent is not going to change and ultimately you know I trust in the Democratic process and um we will see in 2026 um if my Republican uh voters my Democratic voters my no party preferences um want me to continue to serve them and I would do that with honor and by the way I should say you know for those who who you may be outside California listening or haven't followed it closely these Senate districts they're enormous I mean they really are you have a lot just tell us a a little bit about that I mean how many people do you represent and some of the counties because they're really big right so I'm uh north of about a million I I represent the east side of California and everybody says there's no Eastern California there's only north and south and I said well actually there is so the Eastern backboard of California is from the Tahoe Basin so I have trucky and the whole uh Basin there all of beautiful El Dorado County which is right here next to the capital um down the back into Death Valley Ino Mono County which has some of the both most most beautiful Back Country um motorcycle routes that you can imagine and then the very fruitful Central Valley I have all uh Stanis County uh east of the 90 Highway 99 so it takes me about 12 hours to drive my district in in a loop I pack for all weather so I have the highest point in The District in California uh Mount Whitney and the lowest point at uh badwater Basin um all different types of climate um we have the richest resources in terms of our snow pack our water um above ground water storage our uh aqueducts and we feed 80% of the food that comes out of California comes out of um the Central Valley and our district so um so so which count which Central Valley counties do you have uh Stannis Mariposa talami I have the Eastern side of Madera mered and I go all the way into the Eastern Sierra and the northern sier I know it well you must overlap quite a bit with Kevin Kylie three congressmen and that I overlap with Kevin Kylie John dardy and um Tom mlto they're all great um very different but all great they are very different yes uh and I have six assembly members that are embedded in my Senate District um and they're all Republican and we've been working very closely on um on legislation um both the assembly and in the Senate and you know we we have this uh we floor jockey each other's bills um and they've moved my bills in in the assembly and I've moved their bills in in the Senate um so these are working relationships these are Partnerships that have been uh building for for a few years um as a Democrat and I just as I said I um I can only imagine uh the work that we were we are going to be able to do now um being in the same party so can I ask you just a couple more questions and um going back to the sort of real structural political question uh one of the things that you here and it's really flowing from your your point about the top two system so since that was introduced one of the things that you hear is is that the top two the idea behind the top two system was to promote moderate you know moderation in politics people have to appeal to the middle and so on and it seems like that really hasn't been if you look at the overall picture that hasn't been how it's worked out and one of the other things you hear is that this will encourage you know that and and you hear this from a lot of the business organizations well you know Republicans can't win in California so you have to support inverted commers moderate Democrats um what do you think of that that concept of moderate you know moderate Democrats the idea that that the top two would promote centrism yeah doesn't seem to be working out well you know maybe I'm the outlier because I have you know consistently been in that kind of center right position um you know we have quite a few Outlets media Outlets that uh consistently analyze our votes and put report cards out there right um I will say that um I was voted the most dismal Democrat in history by the environmentalists and you know a at first I kind of took offense of that because you know we have some of the strongest environmentalists in Senate District 4 and our Farmers our ranchers our agriculturists our our water boards um but you know it it just it speaks to the symptom of the illness here in Sacramento in that we we only see issues through certain lens and it's that that that majority party lens um so I got a 1% and you know I I don't believe in participation trophies um so I was very colorful in my language um my team said I couldn't uh I couldn't put it in print but in so many words take back your 1% I want it perfect so um but you know it takes courage to be able to be um you know criticized for the way that you represent your District um knowing that you're doing the right thing your district is thriving um but that certain interest groups don't align with the way that you vote and believe that certain bills have more Merit than other bills but the reality is this California is such a diverse ecosystem that until we acknowledge that our rural communities our Sierra communities the places where we we we camp and vacation and attract worldwide tourism until we give agency to the rural parts of California and not just look at voter density density we're going to continue down this symptomatic um Avenue of keeping California sick and that is what I am fighting against um bringing awareness that if we consistently give the power to the Bay Area Los Angeles and San Diego independent of the rest of the State of California which controls the water the food exactly you know the forestry our our tourism Market I mean for me it's common sense um and I and I beat this drum a lot but you'll see in legislation I work diligently to make sure that that we underscore that the rural communities have access to resources that rural communities can compete for grants that rural communities have a voice in some of these one-size fits-all policies that come across my desk um so that's not going to change that's going to you're going to continue to see that um but um as a republican you see I again totally agree with all all of that and that's a lot of those issues I've been working on I've spent a lot of time in your District I now realize yeah um and um and the thing is that I mean specifically on that that question of environmentalism that we've ended up with a very very narrow and ideological definition of environmentalism which is basically just a narrow lens of not even just climate change but like CO2 emissions and and that's it right and I always say I'm an environmentalist very much so a strong environmentalist but I don't think need this climate extremism which is actually forcing us into very very counterproductive policies that actually hurt the environment in the end so for me it's the policies that we are putting in as mandates and my district talks about this a lot in terms of electrification of vehicles and and the reality is we are great at feeding the world we are great at lifting up the economic um prosperity of California when it comes to food and Agriculture and we want to continue to do that and we cannot do that if we are looking at creating a uh Bay Area Market in the Central Valley and and asking our agricultural businesses and our ranchers to step up to a model that our state is not even equipped to be able to respond to um I've visited different countries that say what is happening in California yeah when they ask me what is happening with homelessness and then they ask me how are the businesses surviving with all these mandates around electrification and all these mandates about meeting certain climate goals that the reality is we're not even prepared to achieve ourselves I know it's crazy well I know we're can to have lots of conversations about that if people by the way interested in digging into some of those issues um we from Golden together my organization the latest policy report we published is called water abundance highly relevant to all the uh the great farmers in your District last question Marie I just wanted to ask you you know really going back to because it's a momentous thing you're doing here I mean you're speaking so calmly and and um with such Grace about this um which is wonderful to see but you know this is a really big deal it's a it's a tumultuous thing um and I'm sure the effects will will be will go in all sorts of different directions I think you're showing real leadership here and it's going to and that then things always follow on from that um and we'll see we should check in and see um in a while but just in ter terms of the you know the you know coming to this decision and so on I mean how have you said you had good conversations with your Democrat colleagues do you think they felt that this was coming did they sense that this was where you were headed do you think that's a that's a pretty good question um I can't pretend to know what they were thinking or what conclusions they draw to I I will say this um to defend the seat in 2020 6 is going to mean uh millions of dollars um that you know political donors will be more than happy to give right this is not what this is about this is about saying that um someone who um was able to benefit from an Open Primary someone who is qualified to serve as a state senator someone who chose to put their family aside for these four years to dedicate my life to serving Senate District 4 in California and someone who is not a career politician looking to step on someone else's shoulders or forehead to to to make it right I had a job before and I will always have a job afterwards but this is truly a commitment to that service and in order for me to to be able to say I was successful in this means I have to check the receipts when I leave this office whether it's in 2026 or um in two or three terms after this and and that's what I'm preparing to do and the colleagues that know me that understand uh my district and understand the decisions and the votes that I make I believe will applaud this decision um I think with with all the divisiveness that comes with some of the national political rhetoric you know I'm going to I'm going to have some um some criticism as well um I will never stop working for my constituents I will never stop working to build trust and partnership with them um my team is committed um in good and bad times uh it it really feels like this is a a uh kind of re-energizing our team um that has been from day one um working alongside with me um I know that we we are going to have a opportunity to do some great things and help to inspire more Californians who want to be active and have their voices heard whether they are in my district or not this is about California this is about our state this is about yes the future for our family for your family for for those who will be here after Senator Alvarado Gil is you know in history right that's what it's about um and so again you know humility and honor um those are the two things that for me speak Republican in California and that is what I'm upholding and that is what leads me in making this decision amazing well listen I'm very very confident you're going to have a really warm welcome um in in the Republican party right um up and down the state we're all looking forward to seeing you out there um in all sorts of different forms and and the work that you'll continue to do for your district and for the whole state in the Senate you'll do as as you've been saying you do the same work right different party um and one that's a better fit for your values so thank you so much for being with us today Senator Marie Alvarado Gil Republican senator now we can say it um it's been a great great pleasure to talk to you thank you for sharing in your story um and we'll see you soon great thank you so much Steve [Music]