Breaking News: Assembly Republicans Dump Health Flora, Elect Ali Macedo as New Leader
Heath Flora had become defined by personal controversies and political missteps; Alexandra “Ali” Macedo has emerged as a rising Republican ready to take on Sacramento Democrats.
After meeting behind closed doors earlier this afternoon, the caucus announced that Assemblywoman Alexandra “Ali” Macedo of Tulare had been elected minority leader. She replaces Heath Flora, who held the job for less than eleven months.
Flora is out. Macedo is in. As you might expect, yours truly was the first to report this news on X…
Republicans said Macedo and her new leadership team will focus first on California’s affordability crisis. Macedo also made clear that public safety and government accountability will be central to her tenure.
“I am deeply honored by the trust my colleagues have placed in me, and I am proud to stand alongside a unified caucus dedicated to real, common-sense solutions,” Macedo said. “Our message is clear: California is becoming unaffordable for working families, and our caucus is united in the fight to bring down the cost of living, make our communities safer and hold state bureaucrats accountable.”
Good. The change was overdue.
Flora preferred Sacramento’s inside game and generally avoided the spotlight. There is nothing inherently wrong with that style, but it becomes a problem when a leader is better known for personal controversies, questionable spending and breaking with his own caucus than for presenting an effective Republican alternative.
Macedo offers something very different.
A Rising Republican Star
Macedo is a freshman, but she has not behaved like one.
She really made a name for herself during the fight over Proposition 50. Along with Assemblyman David Tangipa, Macedo was among the most vocal Republicans opposing the sham effort to sideline California’s independent redistricting commission and replace its maps with districts drawn by Sacramento politicians for partisan advantage.
That fight showed why her colleagues see her as an up-and-comer. Macedo is a Central Valley cattlewoman, business owner and attorney who understands both the communities Republicans represent and the political battles taking place in Sacramento. She is forceful without being reckless, strategic without disappearing into the Capitol’s back rooms, and apparently capable of uniting colleagues who do not always agree with one another.
She also understands that the minority leader’s job is not to become the most popular Republican among lobbyists and Democrats. It is to draw clear contrasts, hold the majority accountable and explain what Republicans would do differently.
Macedo’s New Leadership Team
Macedo is bringing a substantially reorganized team with her (yes, these wonderful descriptions were provided by the ace Assembly GOP Comms shop):
Minority Whip David Tangipa of Fresno has emerged as a leading Republican voice on fiscal accountability, Proposition 50 and California’s troubled high-speed-rail project.
Minority Floor Leader Josh Hoover of Folsom led the local fight to reopen schools during the pandemic, authored California’s Phone-Free Schools Act and has pressed the Legislature to address rising utility bills.
Minority Caucus Chair Natasha Johnson of Lake Elsinore brings local government experience and a practical focus on economic development, public safety, and cutting government red tape.
Minority Deputy Leader Joe Patterson of Rocklin has concentrated on public safety and government transparency, including legislation limiting secret state nondisclosure agreements and increasing penalties for repeat fentanyl dealers.
It is a younger, more outward-facing team built around issues Republicans should be talking about every day: affordability, safe communities, failing state programs and a government that costs too much while delivering too little.
I should mention, as someone who follows such things, that there is no doubt the Assemblyman Carl DeMaio played a major role here, and he has long said that Republican leadership in Sacramento needs to be more aggressive in taking on the Democrats, and has long talked up Macedo to me as a rising star in the caucus. In fact, as reporting on this is happening in real time, over on Politico, DeMaio said of the leadership change, “This is a decision made with resolve and vigor to execute a bold plan. It was absolutely necessary.”
Why Republicans were ready to move on from Flora
For anyone wondering why Heath Flora might—just might—not have been the optimal person to lead Assembly Republicans, consider what has already appeared in the media and public record (this is a partial list):
A Sacramento Bee investigation reported that Flora apparently lived in Sacramento while claiming a Modesto property occupied by relatives as his legal domicile, collected nearly $89,000 in legislative per diem during 2024 and the first nine months of 2025, declined to explain the arrangement and co-authored legislation making lawmakers’ registered addresses more difficult to obtain.
Former California Medical Association lobbyist Emily Hughes told the Bee that she had a two-year affair with Flora while he was married and serving on the Assembly Health Committee, while court records from his subsequent divorce showed a request to withhold child support directly from his state salary and an order covering more than $16,000 in past-due support and health-care expenses for his daughters.
Although Flora originally campaigned against politicians who “live high on the hog,” his campaign spent $606,213 in 2024—including extensive restaurant, bar, hotel and travel charges, a $5,200 Las Vegas staff retreat with an Aria cabana and another $1,630 retreat in Lodi—while a later California Post investigation found 54 tabs totaling more than $11,500 at East Sacramento’s Chargins’ Bar & Grill, almost all labeled as district meetings.
Flora also reported more than $24,000 in sponsored travel and $2,444 in gifts during 2023 and another $24,717 in travel and approximately $4,000 in gifts during 2024, compared with less than $2,000 in combined annual travel and gifts reported by his predecessor as Republican leader.
The California Post reported that Flora was facing FPPC investigations involving behested payments and possible misuse of campaign funds, while official records show that he arranged $818,334 in behested payments during 2025 from energy, petroleum, health care, tobacco, technology, building-industry, and other Sacramento interests.
The Post also published allegations from a former lobbyist and anonymous Republican Capitol sources that Flora drank excessively and sometimes conducted state business smelling of alcohol, allegations Flora did not answer but that have not been established through any public adjudication.
Republican organizations in Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Amador counties endorsed Flora’s primary opponents after accusing him of being absent and unresponsive, while his campaign gave $25,000 apiece to Republican committees in Sutter and San Bernardino counties but only $750 to Stanislaus Republicans and nothing to San Joaquin Republicans.
The Sacramento Bee, which endorsed Flora in 2024, reversed course in 2026 after he declined to participate in its endorsement process or answer questions about his residency, spending and child-support record.
Despite being a five-term incumbent, caucus leader and prolific fundraiser, Flora received only 30.6% in the June primary, finished fewer than eight points ahead of Republican challenger Jim Shoemaker and watched nearly seven out of ten voters in his district choose somebody else.
Flora’s accommodating Sacramento style—combined with his pivotal Republican vote for California’s 2017 cap-and-trade extension and his failure to record a vote on another major extension in 2025—had already raised doubts about whether he was willing to lead a vigorous opposition.
The final break came on July 2, when Flora and then-caucus chair Juan Alanis were the only Assembly Republicans to support SB 762, which allows certain local governments to seek sales taxes above the statutory cap and passed with exactly the required 54 votes, making Flora’s support decisive just as Republicans were preparing to campaign against higher taxes and California’s rising cost of living.
Flora took over with the unanimous support of his colleagues. Less than eleven months later, Republican organizations in his district had deserted him, voters had delivered a humiliating primary result, and his own caucus was ready to move on.
Let me just take a quick moment to give a shout-out to Josh Koehn at the California Post, who has been all over this story. As I am writing this, he has already written about it!
A Difficult Job - And A Real Opportunity
Macedo cannot change the basic math in Sacramento. Democrats hold overwhelming control of the Legislature and can pass most of their agenda without a single Republican vote.
But minority leadership is about more than counting votes on the Assembly floor. It is about organizing the caucus, recruiting strong candidates, exposing government failures and giving voters a clear choice between the two parties.
Macedo now has the opportunity to do that with a new team and a clearer message.
After the brief and troubled Flora era, the change could not have come soon enough.
Recommended Reading/Watching!
A podcast we recorded with Macedo - worth the time if you’ve never seen it!
That time when Macedo topped our Winners & Losers Of The Week column…
Top Ten Winners & Losers In California Politics This Week
Below is our Top Ten List of Winners and Losers for the Week. This feature available to all of our subscribers, free and paid. However, at the bottom of the column, past the firewall are three additional winners/losers, just for paid subscribers as a thank you!
And if you want to see how articulate Macedo can be, you HAVE to watch this… Her appearance with Ashley Zalava on CRA TV in Sacramento was - unimprovable.
Finally, since Assemblyman Joe Patterson is now on the leadership team, we had him on for a podcast as well! Also worth your time!
Thank you for this update. We need someone strong enough and smart to take on the nuts in the state legislature.