‘Cannot toast a tortilla on an electric range’: Latina politician ditches Democratic party over gas stove crackdown

Former California Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero said on Friday she is abandoning her party, taking aim at Democrats’ crackdown on gas stoves.

Romero said she has “had enough” and has become misaligned with the Democratic Party, prompting her to change her party affiliation to Republican, according to NBC News 4 San Antonio. The former state Senate majority leader’s remarks follow a Department of Energy (DOE) plan to enact a new “energy conservation standard” for gas stoves and electric cooking equipment.

“I for example think we are going to solve nothing by banning gas stoves,” Romero said. “As a Latina, I will not give up my gas stove because you cannot toast a tortilla on an electric range. That is just bad news, another reason to leave the Democratic Party.”

We all have our breaking points I suppose, lol. https://t.co/osR3kj4UdA pic.twitter.com/8KKJQBSoeS

— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) September 6, 2024

Romero further said she and many other Latinos no longer recognize the Democratic Party, and plans to vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump in November, according to NBC News 4 San Antonio. The former Senate majority leader said she cannot back many of the Democratic Party’s current policies regarding climate change and targeting emissions.

“In this Capitol behind me, I served as both Senate Democratic Caucus chair and the Senate Majority Leader,” Romero said. “Today, I say goodbye, adios, I’ve had enough. I am now another near-lifelong Democrat who is joining the growing number of people, including key groups like Latinos, who are leaving the Democratic Party. This is not the Democratic Party I once championed, I do not recognize it anymore.”

The Biden administration finalized the energy efficiency rule that will go into effect in January 2028, which will apply to newly manufactured electric cooktops, gas cooktops, stand-alone electric cooktops, stand-alone gas cooktops and ovens.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) told Bloomberg in January 2023 that the Biden administration was considering a nationwide ban on gas stoves, citing a December 2022 study indicating that gas stoves pose a risk of children developing asthma. Then-Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz introduced the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act, which intended to prevent the CPSC from regulating gas stoves.

The Biden administration has claimed it is “misinformation” that it wants to ban gas stoves.

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