California's first transgender mayor Raul Ureña is kicked out of office after opponents mount 'transphobic' recall campaign

Calexico has voted to oust the first transgender mayor in California in a long awaited recall vote as the politician blames transphobia for the decision. 

Mayor Raul Ureña, 26, identifies as a transgender woman and prefers she/they pronouns. 

Ureña was elected into office in 2020 at the age of 23 and came out as gender-fluid and transgender in 2022 - after her re-election.

She eventually started wearing dresses and makeup in official appearances, which riled up voters who felt duped because they believed they were voting for a gay cisgender man and not a transgender woman. 

However, on April 16 nearly 74 percent of voters supported the recall of the City Councilmember, according to early results released by the Imperial County registrar of voters on Wednesday night.

Another Calexico politician and coworker of Ureña was also targeted by the recall campaign.

Councilmember Gilberto Manzanarez, another young and progressive outspoken politician, saw 73 percent of voters vote in favor of the recall. 

Despite recall campaign organizers insisting that the efforts were rooted in 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 LA 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 in a City Council meeting on Wednesday that the young politicians were being unfairly blamed for Calexico's problems that had existed long before they were elected into office. 

Some of the issues included the deteriorating downtown of the Latino city of 38,000 sitting on the Californian border to Mexico - as well as understaffed police, fire and public works departments. 

'It's very easy to point to downtown and make sure that people understand that it's not OK. How long has it been that way? Did it start being that way in 2022? Absolutely not,' said Manzanarez.

Maritza Hurtado, 58, has been a leader in the recall campaign and worked as the former mayor for Calexico. 

She declined to comment on the results, but previously called Ureña and Manzanarez 'toxic' left-wing activists.

Hurtado, 58, claimed that 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 over $128,000, and the turnout was about 23 percent with 4,933 votes cast. 

Ureña has been fighting recall efforts ever since 2022 and was heckled by a protestor at a pride flag-raising ceremony this past June.

The protestor, Rebecca Lemon, had to be ripped away by three police officers as she lunged at the city's mayor and spewed profanity. Lemon screamed: 'He's not a woman! He's not a woman!' Then she shockingly kicked the mayor's dad.

Lemon spearheaded 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 mostly Democrat voters - but from the 2016 to the 2020 election, Republican voters increased from under 10 percent to almost 27 percent. 

Those pushing for the removal of Ureña from office have stated that 'During this recall, we want to remind all to be respectful towards personal sexual preferences as this is not the platform.'

However, Ureña has claimed that her gender identity has been used against her throughout the elected official's political career. 

The mayor said that as a transgender person, you always have to watch your back - but says that she doesn't feel more vulnerable to trans-hate as a public official. 

'I might even be more vulnerable if I'm not in an elected position where people have elected me to represent a lot of 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 recalls feeling 'so good' whilst wearing a dress at the age of 10.

Ureña opened up about her struggles as a member of the LGBTQ+ community - and admitted her parents told her to hide her sexual orientation when she came out at the age of 17 for safety purposes. 

'My parents wanted me to keep it to myself because they were worried about my safety,' she said. 'My dad was not very happy with me being public about my sexual orientation.'

Residents of Calexico took to social media when Ureña became mayor to bash the politician for her appearance.

When images surfaced of Ureña wearing a dress - people said 'how gross' and 'this must be a joke.' 

Calexico resident Diana Silva said she felt uncomfortable with the image Ureña is portraying but she is also not happy with her work in the city council, according to Beyond Border News.