Read The Bee’s endorsement in California’s 4th Senate District primary | Opinion

The California Senate’s 4th District spans the counties of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, Stanislaus and Tuolumne. The more than 1 million people who live in the district are represented by Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil.

In August 2024, Alvarado-Gil made headlines by switching parties from Democrat to Republican.

Alvarado-Gil, now 52, was justified in being angry at legislative Democrats for hijacking some of her law-and-order bills because they were indifferent to how a majority of Californians felt about property and drug crimes. Unfortunately, Alvarado-Gil has become a culture warrior and a frequent player in controversies since switching parties.

She’s been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, particularly after the passage of H.R. 1, Trump’s budget bill that has imposed restrictions on Medi-Cal and food programs badly needed in California and in her district, where the poverty rate is roughly 12%.

In 2025, she was reprimanded by the Senate Rules Committee after a Workplace Conduct Unit (WCU) investigation determined that Alvarado-Gil retaliated against Chad Condit, her former chief of staff who sued her for sexual harassment. Alvarado-Gil responded by filing a counter complaint and making salacious allegations against Condit and his family.

In a district where 39% of voters are registered Republicans and 34% are Democrats, according to CalMatters, the door is always open for challenges from the right and left

Alvarado-Gil is being challenged by Tuolumne County Supervisor Jaron Brandon, a Democrat. He has our endorsement because he is up to the task of representing the 4th District without the drama that Alvarado-Gil generates.

His campaign platform addresses fundamental issues of rural Californians such as affordable housing and wildfire safety, and a focus on effective policy over partisan politics. As The Bee reported recently, Brandon calls himself a “steel-toed Democrat who supports public safety, infrastructure improvement and fiscal responsibility on the state level.”

“I think we have a partisan dysfunction and an urban-rural dysfunction in our state that has not served my district well,” Brandon told us.

Brandon worked to double fire station coverage in Tuolumne’s vulnerable communities after the Rim Fire. He has also pushed for new vegetation management and fire clearance requirements in the county. This speaks well of his priority to protect the district’s rural, inland communities during future wildfires.

During our interview, Brandon called for “bold ideas” to address the state’s annual wildfire crisis beyond the incrementalism that hampers current legislators. They included removing regulatory hurdles, investing in upfront resources and giving local governments and owners a clear path to rate reductions that match their risk reduction efforts.

We believe Brandon could do good work that district needs by focusing on local issues. If he gets to Sacramento, Brandon has the chance to succeed in a bipartisan way that would stand in contrast to the incumbent.