… and did I mention the knucklehead tried to lie his way out of it?
So – Eric Shitz, the campaign manager for the Duarte Crew got caught recording Marie while she was exchanging unknown texts with an unknown person. When confronted initially, Sheetz lied. (shocker) When shown the photo (which your interpid blogger has a copy of) he then copped to what he did.
From a Press Release that I think precipitated the Modesto Bee Article:
Sacramento, CA —The campaign for conservative Republican State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil today issued a strong statement condemning the deeply unethical conduct of State Senate candidate Alexandra Duarte’s campaign manager, who was caught secretly taking over-the-shoulder photographs of Senator Alvarado-Gil’s mobile phone screen during a recent Republican event.
Multiple individuals at the event witnessed the Duarte campaign manager positioned directly behind Senator Alvarado-Gil, intentionally angling his phone to capture images or video of her personal text messages. When confronted, he attempted to deny his actions — despite eyewitness accounts clearly confirming what he was doing.
This kind of conduct has absolutely no place in Republican politics, or any politics. Spying on a fellow Republican’s private text messages at an event is disgraceful and beyond unacceptable.
The Alvarado-Gil campaign emphasized that this was not an isolated misunderstanding, it was a deliberate act. The Duarte campaign manager was attempting to covertly record private communications, while trying to conceal the behavior when approached.
The Bee Article goes on to drop this nugget after Duarte’s campaign consultant responded with the usual Marie is bad stuff…
Duarte announced her candidacy in late August as an advocate for police officers, farmers and parental rights. Her husband, John Duarte, is the former House representative for District 13.
Oooof. Gonna have more to say about that for sure… who vetted Alexandra Duarte? Probably just John Duarcuck himself, because we we’ve seen so far is amateur night. You know, Parent’s rights.
It looks like the Duarte political empire is expanding. First we got John Duarte—Mr. “Moderate Republican”—telling everyone how proud he is to be a squish. Now his wife, Alexandra Duarte, wants to run for State Senate as a Republican. I’d be surprised, but I see this sort of stuff time and time again, including liberals trying to suddenly become Trump-Loving right-wingers.
John Duarte openly admitted he left his church because it wouldn’t celebrate same-sex marriage, and references pulling his kids out as well. That’s not “standing up for values”—that’s chasing liberal approval. You have to also conclude from John Duarte’s comments that Alexandra was completely involved in the decision to change churches and pull the kids along with it.
Amateur night, gonna try to convince parents she advocates for them and wants to protect them from groomers ostensibly after moving her family to a socially progressive church. Talks about Law Enforcement while employing a campaign manager that should be a customer of law enforcement.
No amount of illegally recorded text message conservations can mitigate this coming disaster. Yikes.
The ‘Squishes’ continue to destroy the Republican Party in this state…20 years of ‘Squishyness’ now and we have had our butts kicked because of it.
Why is it that so many politicians try to get their spouses in elected office too? Can you say ‘Gravy Train’? Politics is a ugly backstabbing business and I would never want my spouse in politics…she is too nice and too honest. We need leaders…leaders that will fix this State and Nation. Not ‘lets get my spouse to the feed trough’ too types….Damn!!!!
If true, this is an illegal endorsement.
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A Disturbing Conflict of Interest Inside the El Dorado County GOP
Received Email Inbox – Emma Waters
On Monday, November 10, the El Dorado County Republican Central Committee convened for what should have been a routine endorsement proceeding. Instead, members witnessed an alarming breach of ethical standards—one that raises profound questions about fairness, transparency, and the integrity of Republican decision-making in California’s sprawling 13-county 4th Senate District.
At the center of the controversy is Todd White, Chairman of the El Dorado County Republican Party. White also serves as the paid field representative for State Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil, who re-registered as a Republican in August 2024 and is now seeking re-election. White’s dual roles are not incidental; they represent a textbook conflict of interest. That conflict came fully into view when he presided over an endorsement vote for the very office held by his employer.
Rather than recusing himself—as both ethics and common sense demand—White personally ran the endorsement vote with Senator Alvarado-Gil waiting in a back room. He directed the process, controlled the agenda, and ultimately advanced a hand-vote, despite printed ballots being available in the room. In a moment that should concern every Republican voter, the county’s top party official used procedural authority to influence a vote involving his own boss.
But procedural irregularities are only part of the story.
Two Republican challengers running in the same Senate District 4 race were never informed the endorsement was even occurring. No invitation. No equal opportunity. No access to committee members. Meanwhile, Senator Alvarado-Gil—uniquely—received committee contact information directly from Chairman White, enabling her to call members both the day before and the day of the vote. Armed with personal access her opponents never received, she entered the process with an advantage that no fair endorsement system should allow.
The “endorsement” itself was disguised inside a broader slate vote, even though the circumstances were wholly different. Slate endorsements typically involve uncontested positions with no Republican competition. But Senate District 4 is a contested Republican primary. By embedding her endorsement in a slate, the chair created the impression of a routine vote rather than one involving a contested Republican race with two unnotified candidates.
This is not a matter of parliamentary quibbling. It strikes at the core of whether the Republican Party in El Dorado County—and potentially beyond—will operate transparently or become captive to insider arrangements.
The issue reaches beyond one county because California’s 4th Senate District spans 13 counties: Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne. If a county chairman employed by a candidate can steer endorsements without disclosure, without recusal, and without equal access for Republican challengers, then nothing stops this model from being replicated across the district.
This situation raises unavoidable questions:
Is this a case of pay-to-play?
Did Senator Alvarado-Gil benefit from her employee’s control over the local party?
And will future endorsements be shaped not by grassroots judgment but by who signs a chairman’s paycheck?
These are not abstract concerns. By excluding the Republican challengers and withholding critical information from the committee, the process deprived members of the full context needed to make an informed endorsement. It deprived candidates of equal footing. And it undermined public confidence in the neutrality of Republican institutions.
Republicans rightly criticize political favoritism, insider deals, and conflicts of interest when they occur in government. Those standards must apply equally within our own party organizations. The El Dorado County incident should serve as a cautionary tale—and a call to action.
If the Republican Party wishes to maintain credibility with its voters, it must insist on transparent processes, require recusal in cases of financial conflict, and guarantee equal access to all Republican candidates seeking endorsement. Anything less invites corruption, damages the party’s reputation, and erodes trust at a time when integrity matters more than ever.
The voters of Senate District 4 deserve a clean process. So do Republicans across California. What happened in El Dorado County must never be allowed to happen again.