Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that he was leaving the Democratic Party, with whom he has been a registered voter for more than 40 years, and joining the Republican Party.
“As of today, I’m leaving the party of paid protests, purple hair, and pronouns, and joining the party of faith, family, and freedom,” Villanueva said during a recent speaking event.
Villanueva, who was elected to serve as the sheriff of Los Angeles County in 2018 before ultimately losing his re-election campaign to former Long Beach police chief Robert Luna in November 2022. Villanueva ran as a reform candidate and bucked his own party on a number of key issues during his tenure, including the implementation of a number of tough-on-crime policies and a rebuke of the Black Lives Matter riots.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Villanueva refused to comply with local officials in closing public beaches during the July 4 holiday weekend. In July 2021, Villanueva also stated that he would not use the department’s “limited resources” to enforce a mask mandate, noting that it was “not backed by science,” Breitbart News reported at the time.
“Forcing the vaccinated and those who already contracted COVID-19 to wear