Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez announced on Thursday that she will seek to replace Chad Mayes as Assembly Republican leader when the Legislature returns from summer recess on Monday.
Melendez said that Mayes’ vote for extending the state’s cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to pollute, helped the Democrats win approval of a bad program that will make Californians pay more for energy and fuel.
"I am ready and willing to be the type of leader you have been asking for, one who has principles," Melendez said to applause at a meeting of the Riverside County Republican Party. "When the Assembly returns Monday, I will be throwing my name in the hat to run for Republican leader.”
Mayes is from Yucca Valley and said that his bipartisan cooperation allowed a problem to be solved. Melendez disagreed and said, "Republicans do not have to vote like Democrats to save the Republican Party."