Calexico voted to recall California’s first transgender mayor in a highly anticipated recall vote, as the politician blames transphobia for the decision.
Mayor Raúl Ureña, 26, identifies as a transgender woman and prefers she/them pronouns.
Ureña was elected to office in 2020 at the age of 23 and came out as transgender and genderfluid in 2022, after her re-election.
She eventually began wearing dresses and makeup in official appearances, irritating voters who felt cheated because they believed they were voting for a cisgender gay man and not a transgender woman.
However, on April 16, nearly 74 percent of voters supported recalling the city councilman, according to early results released by the Imperial County registrar of voters late Wednesday.
Calexico voted to recall California’s first transgender mayor in a highly anticipated recall vote, as the politician blames transphobia for the decision.
Mayor Raúl Ureña, 26, identifies as a transgender woman and prefers the pronouns she/them
Raúl Ureña was elected to office in 2020 at the age of 23 and came out as transgender and genderfluid in 2022, after his re-election.
Ureña was hit by a recall campaign after voters complained that they thought they were voting a man into office.
Maritza Hurtado, 58, has been a leader in the recall campaign and worked as the former mayor of Calexico.
Another politician from Calexico and co-worker of Ureña was also a target of the recall campaign.
Councilman Gilberto Manzanarez, another young, progressive politician, saw 73 percent of voters vote in favor of impeachment.
Even though recall campaign organizers insisted the efforts were based on concerns about homelessness and the economy, the ousted politicians believe otherwise.
Ureña and Manzanarez said they believe the recall campaign was largely motivated by transphobia, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Ureña said she remains ‘hopeful and optimistic, despite the results.’ “We will not give up on social justice in the Imperial Valley,” Ureña said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Manzanarez said at a City Council meeting Wednesday that young politicians were unfairly blamed for Calexico’s problems that existed long before they were elected to office.
Some of the problems included the deterioration of the center of the Latino city of 38,000 located on the California border with Mexico, as well as the lack of personnel in the police, fire and public works departments.
‘It’s very easy to point at the center and make sure people understand that it’s not right. How long has it been like this? Did it start to be like this in 2022? Absolutely not,” Manzanarez said.
Maritza Hurtado, 58, has been a leader in the recall campaign and worked as the former mayor of Calexico.
She declined to comment on the results, but previously called Ureña and Manzanarez “toxic” left-wing activists.
On April 16, nearly 74 percent of voters supported recalling the city councilman, according to early results released by the Imperial County registrar of voters late Wednesday.
Ureña said she remains ‘hopeful and optimistic, despite the results.’ “We will not give up on social justice in the Imperial Valley,” Ureña said. ‘We’re not going anywhere’
Ureña has stated that her gender identity has been used against her throughout the 26-year-old’s political career. The mayor said that as a transgender person, you always have to watch your back, but she says she doesn’t feel more vulnerable to trans hate as a public official.
In June, protesters booed her at a pride flag-raising ceremony in Jube, where an avid Ureña hater shouted “she’s not a woman!”
Hurtado, 58, claimed Ureña used gender “as a card this whole time” and said the 26-year-old dismissed people with legitimate political grievances as transphobic and racist, according to the LA Times.
This week’s special election cost the small city more than $128,000 and turnout was about 23 percent with 4,933 votes cast.
Ureña has been fighting recall efforts since 2022 and was interrupted by a protester at a gay pride flag-raising ceremony last June.
The protester, Rebecca Lemon, had to be pulled away by three police officers when she lunged at the city’s mayor and cursed. Lemon shouted: ‘She’s not a woman! She is not a woman! Then she, surprisingly, kicked the mayor’s father.
Lemon led the recall effort to remove Ureña from office, but stepped back after the attack in June.
Calexico is a city in southern Imperial County that sits on the border of Mexico and California.
The city’s population is largely made up of Democratic voters, but from the 2016 to 2020 elections, Republican voters increased from less than 10 percent to nearly 27 percent.
Those pushing for Ureña’s removal from office have stated that “during this recall, we want to remind everyone to be respectful of personal sexual preferences, as this is not the platform.”
However, Ureña has stated that his gender identity has been used against him throughout the elected official’s entire political career.
The mayor said that as a transgender person, you always have to watch your back, but she says she doesn’t feel more vulnerable to trans hate as a public official.
Protesters successfully forced a recall election for Ureña and another progressive councilman, Gilberto Manzanarez.
Ureña opts for dresses that reveal her hairy chest, bold makeup, bright colors, jewelry, and high heels that make her stand out for better or worse.
Ureña, the first transgender mayor along the entire US-Mexico border, told DailyMail.com that she remembers feeling “so good” while wearing a dress when she was 10 years old.
“I might even be more vulnerable if I’m not in elected office where people have elected me to represent many people who don’t identify as LGBT,” she said.
Ureña, the first transgender mayor along the entire US-Mexico border, told DailyMail.com that she remembers feeling “so good” while wearing a dress when she was 10 years old.
Ureña opened up about his struggles as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and admitted that his parents told him to hide his sexual orientation when he came out at the age of 17 for safety reasons.
“My parents wanted me to keep it to myself because they were worried about my safety,” she said. “My dad wasn’t very happy with me speaking publicly about my sexual orientation.”
Calexico residents took to social media when Ureña became mayor to criticize the politician for her appearance.
When images of Ureña in a dress surfaced, people said “how disgusting” and “this must be a joke.”
Calexico resident Diana Silva said she was uncomfortable with the image Ureña is portraying, but she is also unhappy with her job on the city council, according to Beyond Border News.