Former Victorville Councilman Eric Negrete, once a fast-rising star within the California Republican Party, has changed his political affiliation.
Negrete is now a Democrat.
Elected to the council in 2014, the charismatic Negrete hewed to a conservative line that had some believing he would be a promising eventual U.S. Senate candidate who might reverse the Democrats’ momentum in the Golden State.
In retrospect, it appears Negrete made a mistake in not capitalizing on the respect he was shown by his council colleagues in 2016 when he declined appointment to the mayor’s position, asserting his professional and familial commitments would prevent him from doing an adequate job if he accepted that assignment.
In 2018, he narrowly lost in his reelection bid to Democrat Rita Ramirez. He ran in the 2020 Victorville Council election, but finished well off the pace in a middle position among the 22 candidates who competed for three seats being contested.
“There are significant social and economic changes affecting San Bernardino County,” Negrete said. “To best serve the residents of Victorville and the High Desert, I recently changed parties to become a Democrat.”