Beth Fukumoto announced that she is quitting the GOP in Hawaii on Wednesday after she was ousted as the state's House minority leader and scolded by Republicans for speaking critically of President Donald Trump.
Fukumoto, 33, was first elected to the Hawaii House in 2012 and was re-elected last year. She rose to House minority leader and, in 2013, The Daily Beast political blog dubbed her one of "Nine Women Remaking the Right" and The Washington Post listed her as one of "The Fix's 40 under 40" rising political stars, Honolulu Magazine noted.
The magazine said, though, that she ran afoul of party leadership when she started calling for a more diverse local voice among Hawaii Republicans and then calling some of Trump's campaign remarks sexist and racist. Fukumoto called Trump a bully at the Women's March, noted Honolulu magazine.
She told the magazine that she will seek membership in the state's Democratic Party.
"Since becoming a member eight years ago, I've suggested our local party should reflect our uniquely diverse community," Fukumoto said in a letter to Republicans on Wednesday. "And I believed that if I was committed to this cause, I could help attract more people to the party.
"But, a little more than a year ago, a fellow caucus member told me 'We are the party of middle America. I don't care if the demographics don't fit.' … It was in that moment that I was finally able to identify the colonial mindset I'd unknowingly run up against for years," she continued.
She charged in her letter that the Republican Party did not want to hear her voice or her message.
"I want to see all Americans fight for diversity of opinion, moderation, minorities, women, and ultimately, a better party system," Fukumoto wrote. "Without confronting this problem, Republicans across the country will inevitably discover what it's like to be a super minority, or a Republican in Hawaii.
"No matter how many walls are built and travel bans enacted, America's demographics will keep changing, and the Republican party can't keep marginalizing voices like mine and the people that care about what I'm saying," she added.
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