The California Republican Party, as well as other grassroots GOP organizations, have condemned a campaign flyer distributed by Republican Alexandra Duarte’s campaign that targets – quite literally – incumbent state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gill (R-Jackson), with the state’s primary election less than two weeks away.

The flyer, mailed to District 4 homes, shows Duarte – the wife of former Republican Congressman John Duarte – wearing glasses and ear protection while pointing a handgun, with a flash at the muzzle, toward a photo of Alvarado-Gil.

“The California Republican Party opposes this mailer from Alexandra Duarte’s campaign, especially its troubling imagery implying violence against Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil,” the CRP said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). “Amid recent assassination attempts against President Trump and increased violence targeting elected officials, it’s important for all campaigns, whether Republican or Democrat, to work toward calming our political climate and encouraging respectful dialogue.”

Regional GOP organizations quickly came to Alvarado-Gil’s defense.

• “The Stanislaus County Republican Assembly strongly repudiates the false and misleading attacks being advanced by Alexandra Duarte against conservative state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil.”
• “Regarding political violence and that type of rhetoric, the Republican Party of Stanislaus County has not and will not ever condone that type of rhetoric. That does not belong here in Stanislaus County, full stop,” said Joel Campos, chairman.
• “Political engagement that prompts violence or perceived violence is unacceptable,” said the Board of the Modesto Republican Women Federated.
• “The El Dorado County Republican Party strongly repudiates the false, desperate, and misleading attacks being pushed by Alexandra Duarte against conservative state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil.”
• “Alexandra Duarte does not have a conservative record,” said the San Joaquin Valley Congress of Republicans. “Instead, her campaign has resorted to political manipulation, dishonest imagery, and brutal attacks designed to mislead Republicans.”
• “We believe Alexandra Duarte owes Sen. Alvarado-Gil and the voters of Senate District 4 a public apology,” said the San Joaquin Valley Congress of Republicans.

The Duarte campaign, meanwhile, is standing firm.

“It’s understandable that Marie Alvarado-Gil would want to talk about nonsense rather than the fact that she’s been a lifelong Democrat, opposed President Trump, supported Joe Biden, and voted to force taxpayers to dish out billions of dollars for healthcare of illegal immigrants,” said Duane Dichiara, a campaign consultant with Axiom Strategies.

Alvarado-Gil won the District 4 seat in 2022 when she was still a member of the Democratic party. Four years ago, she battled nine other candidates during the open primary. She hit the electoral jackpot as eight Republicans fought among themselves and split more than 130,000 votes. That cleared a path for Alvarado-Gil and fellow Democrat Tim Robertson — they split 90,000 votes — to advance to the general election and deny the right-leaning district a Republican option.

History could be set to repeat itself.

Democrat Jaron Brandon, a member of the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors, is free of any challengers with whom he’d have to split Democratic votes. He seems content to sit back and let the Duarte — Alvarado-Gil feud play out.

According to Duarte campaign polling, Brandon leads the race (35 percent), with Duarte in second (27 percent), and Alvarado-Gil a distant third (11 percent). But according to the poll, conducted by the Remington Research Group, 27 percent of voters remain undecided. But in a head-to-head comparison of Republican viability, Duarte is outperforming the incumbent by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

The poll has a margin of error of plus/minus 4 percent.

When reached by the Turlock Journal, Brandon declined to comment on the Republican infighting, saying only, “I’m just focused on talking to people about the issues.”

District 4 is the largest in the state, area-wise, hugging the Nevada border from north of Lake Tahoe (close to Reno) to south of Death Valley (not far from Las Vegas), then jutting out toward the Santa Clara County line (near Silicon Valley). It is bigger than 10 U.S. states, and includes all or pieces of 13 counties, eight different area codes, 16 tribal nations, and more than 1 million total constituents. But it only barely falls into the GOP column, with 39 percent of voters registered as Republicans and 34 percent as Democrats, according to CalMatters.

“Either GOP’er Alexandra Duarte’s team are terrible at political mail design, or they are completely tone-deaf to the moment we are living in,” Tim Rosales, a consultant to Alvarado-Gil’s campaign, told The Sacramento Bee, which has endorsed Brandon. “At a time when politicians have faced assassination attempts and rising political violence, showing the wife of former Congressman John Duarte pointing a gun with a … muzzle flash in the direction of California State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil is reckless, disturbing and way over the line.”

The flyer image of Duarte, who bills herself as a Trump Republican, is affixed to a tin can, while the image of Alvarado-Gil is affixed to another – giving the appearance that Duarte is, perhaps, target shooting at cans. On the Alvarado-Gil can, the ingredients read: “Called herself a “F***ing Democrat,” doesn’t support President Trump, loves Joe Biden, holds hands with Kamala Harris, gave free healthcare to illegals, put tampons in boys’ bathrooms, made abortions easier to get, mandated vaccines, supports lockdowns, let Newsom’s germander (sic) pass, facing explosive sexual harassment allegations.”

Alvarado-Gil left the Democratic Party midway through her first term, saying at the time: “The Democratic Party is unrecognizable to what I once knew and lacks the will to fix the problems plaguing this state. I cannot stand by a party that ignores the will of the people and disregards the core American values that my community supports and believes in.”

Voters have until June 2 to cast their ballots. The top two vote recipients, regardless of party, will advance to the Nov. 3 general election.