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.

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 government; rampant fraud; widespread crime; union and other special-interest capture of Sacramento; and more.

An Emerson College poll of likely state voters in late May found that more than half of Californians –– including substantial numbers of independents and Democrats –– think the state’s on the wrong track.

Both parties need serious leaders focused not on personal gain or advancement but on addressing the state’s pressing needs.

Republicans should unite behind Macedo, share a common-sense vision for California, and articulate a credible alternative to the failing status quo.

The 32-year-old’s elevation to minority leader, after serving just a year and a half in the Assembly, says a lot about her promise. May she fulfill it, starting now.