Murphy Woodhouse/KJZZ

Claudia Pavlovich

Sonora’s previous governor, who often touted her collaboration with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, has been kicked out of her political party.

Claudia Pavlovich was a longstanding member of Mexico’s PRI party, serving as a city councilor, and state and federal legislator before being elected Sonora’s first female governor in 2015.

After her six-year term ended in 2021, she accepted an offer by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Morena Party to serve as a consul in Barcelona, Spain. Morena convincingly won the presidency against the PRI and other parties in 2018, as well as the Sonoran governor’s race in 2021.

While not mentioning the diplomatic post, the PRI announced this week that it had kicked Pavlovich out of the party. Earlier this year, another former PRI governor was also booted from the PRI after accepting the ambassadorship in Spain.