A string of right-leaning cities left the League of California Cities over policy disagreements.

While California serves as the Democrats’ greatest bastion, it still contains more Republicans than most Republican states. That population has grown increasingly weary of the state’s leftward turn in recent years, and in recent months, five city councils in Southern California have decided to sever ties with the long-standing League of California Cities over policy disputes, Politico reported.

The league, founded in 1898, consists of more than 460 members. Members were previously able to unite over less sensitive matters, but pressing concerns have made bipartisanship within the state much more difficult. Carolyn Coleman, the group’s CEO, expressed her disappointment over the departures.

“I’m certainly disappointed,” she said. “At the end of the day, I believe that we are stronger — and I also believe their cities have the opportunity to be stronger — by us working together.”

The stated reason for the departures of Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Orange, and Yorba Linda was the undercutting of tax reforms and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) policies toward homelessness.

The move surprised many, as the League of California Cities is seen as advantageous to smaller cities, which don’t have the power of the large coastal cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. The group serves as a powerful lobbying group in Sacramento for the state’s other cities.

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“I do think that opting out, in some ways, diminishes your clout,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said. “You’re better off advocating and organizing from within to sort of shape the positions that organization takes, because we have a lot in common as cities.”

The league stated its task as to “defend and expand local control through advocacy efforts in the Legislature, at the ballot box, in the courts, and through strategic outreach that informs and educates the public, policymakers, and opinion leaders.”