Welcome, Alexandra Macedo and good riddance to scandal-riddled Heath Flora

Serving in public office is a privilege, not an invitation to abuse status and prestige for personal gain.So Assembly Republicans did well in dropping Heath Flora as Assembly minority leader, and replacing him with Alexandra Macedo.The party –– which holds a mere 19 of 80 Assembly seats –– struggles to find relevance in Sacramento.It cannot harbor compromised leaders and expect to succeed.Flora’s ouster follows a report in The California Post that the two-term assemblyman faces to two separate probes by the state Fair Political Practices Commission: one for allegations of misused campaign funds and another over his reporting of charitable donations he sought from those with business before the Assembly.As minority leader, he had to go.Allegations against him –– which include spending thousands of campaign dollars on personal bar tabs and carrying on two simultaneous affairs while married –– paint a damning portrait of a man focused on himself, not the public he’s supposed to serve.Assemblywoman Macedo, of Tulare, cuts a promising profile as his replacement. The Central Valley Republican, whose parents work in agriculture, is young, energetic and appealing to everyday Californians.And Macedo –– who holds degrees in law and business –– is articulate and can leverage a national platform to present a credible governing alternative to the failures of Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story Those failures are many, and include chronic high rates of homelessness; a staggering lack of affordability; stubborn housing, water, energy and road-capacity shortages; abysmal public education outcomes; overtaxation — including an absurd proposed billionaire tax; woeful underperformance by state go...