Washington, DC — California Congressman Kevin Kiley has decided to leave the Republican Party, and instead be a no-party preference lawmaker both in the current US Congress and during the upcoming election.
Kiley announced the move at a press conference Monday morning, stating, “I would characterize it as my frustration with partisanship itself and the ways in which it is weakening our country. I think that the redistricting lore and the gerrymandering epidemic that has spread across the country and ended representation in our state, is kind of the ultimate manifestation of that.
Kiley is running in the District 6 Congressional race this year after the recent Proposition 50 redistricting. He had initially given strong consideration to running in District 5, held by Republican incumbent Tom McClintock.
Kiley was also asked whether he was pressured by party leadership not to challenge a fellow Republican, like McClintock. He responded, “I had zero conversations with anyone in Republican leadership about that, and if I had, it would not have impacted my decision.”
Following the switch, the US Congress now has 217 Republicans and 214 Democrats, and Kiley is the lone independent.
