MURRIETA, Calif.—California Sen. Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) showed up to a packed school board meeting in Murrieta, California, a city of about 110,000 people in southwestern Riverside County, on Feb. 10 to back more than 150 parents, students, and community leaders fighting mask and vaccine mandates. Melendez blasted the Murrieta Valley Unified School District Board of Education for not taking a stand against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s edicts and warned if they didn’t there would be consequences. “The state is making mandates. You as a school district don’t want your budgets to be affected, but I will tell you this: You have a choice,” she said. “You can defy the governor’s mandate and stand up for these kids, or you can choose to side with the governor and the teachers’ union. The choice is yours, but I am telling you these parents are going to take notice and I hope you …