Rep. Beth Fukumoto is expected to face tough questioning from members of the Democratic Party as she seeks their acceptance after ditching the Republican Party earlier this year amid a political dust-up over critical comments that she made about President Donald Trump.

First elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012 representing Mililani and Waipio Acres, she was seen as a rising star among an increasingly marginalized Republican Party.

But the 34-year-old now finds herself in “partisan purgatory,” as she told Chelsea Handler on her Nextflix talk show, “Chelsea,” which aired Friday.

“They have to make sure I fit and conform entirely with the Democratic platform, as a representative. And for me, I think that’s part of the concern about parties in general, right?” she told Handler. “Like, nobody fits 100 percent into one box — as a Republican I was being called 100 percent to fit a box, and now I’m sort of stuck in this space trying to prove that I can fit into another box. But I think that is why millennials stopped wanting to participate in politics. It’s silly.”

Fukumoto has attained local and national media attention for her Republican Party defection and criticism of Trump, including a flood of supporters on social media. But when it comes to local party politics, she faces a tougher crowd.

Oahu members of the Democratic Party could vote as early as June 24 on whether to accept Fukumoto, said Rich Halverson, chairman of the Oahu county committee, the county organization of the state’s Democratic Party.

Halverson, who was recently elected the committee’s chairman, said he intends to have the full committee vote on Fukumoto, including regional and district chairmen. In total, more than four dozen members of the Democratic Party are expected to have a vote, and the decision will come down to a simple majority.

Fukumoto has largely staked out her political career around issues of affordable housing and income inequality. She’s supported raising taxes on the wealthy and providing working families more money back on their tax returns through a state earned income tax credit.

Those issues have ingratiated her with Democratic Party members. But she’s expected to face tougher scrutiny when it comes to divisive social issues.

“LGBT and even women’s issues, those are the biggest things,” said Mike Golojuch, Oahu’s District 42 chairman, which includes Kapolei. “How progressive is she? Or is she super conservative on those issues? I really don’t know.”

(Golojuch’s son, Michael Golojuch, is also active in the Democratic Party and chairman of the party’s LGBT caucus.)

Fukumoto says she’s pro-choice though would support certain restrictions on third-trimester abortions. In January she marched in support of women’s rights during the Women’s March in Honolulu, speaking to loud applause when she called Trump’s rhetoric “racist and sexist.”

Her record on LGBT issues has been more mixed. She says she personally supports gay marriage, even though she voted against Hawaii’s gay marriage law in 2013. So did 13 House Democrats and three Senate Democrats, including current Senate President Ron Kouchi.

“I think for me, it comes down to I don’t want people regulating my personal life, and I can understand why it is frustrating when government tries to reach too far into those areas,” she told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser last week.

Fukumoto’s record on other LGBT issues is also causing concern.

She indicated she would vote in favor of legislation that would allow religious organizations to prohibit the use of their facilities for same-sex marriages in a 2016 survey conducted by the Hawaii Family Forum, which supports conservative policies.

She also would not vote in favor of legislation supporting former President Barack Obama’s order instructing public schools to allow transgender students to use restroom facilities based on their sexual identity, according to the survey. Trump has since rescinded that guidance.

Fukumoto said that she seeks to protect all group’s rights, including those of religious groups, and that she hopes the Democratic Party won’t be too strict in determining her fitness for the party.

“I know for me, I watched a political party that I was a part of become increasingly rigid and narrow, and it hurt the party, and my biggest concern moving forward is that Democrats will go down that same path,” she said.

Fukumoto pointed to the Republican reaction after the 2008 national political contests that brought Democrats into power and now the reaction of the Democratic Party to the Republican sweeps.

“I am sensing that same tendency to try to put people to these sort of ideological purity tests, and that was not good for the Republican Party and it will not be good for the Democratic Party,” she said. “And I hope that there are enough people to stop it before it gets that far.”

Halverson, the Oahu Democratic Party committee chairman, said that if the vote on Fukumoto was taken a few weeks ago, she probably would not have been accepted into the party. He said a lot of the new party representatives came aboard because of their staunch opposition to Trump, and they are less flexible than the older members when it comes to party platform issues.

“They are not big-tent people,” he said. “In fact, if I say ‘big-tent people,’ that can offend them.”

But he said older party members have been encouraging the newer members to accept Fukumoto, and her prospects are looking much better.

“I think Beth is someone who does kind of sell herself; she is pretty progressive,” said Halverson, who said as chairman he will abstain from voting unless he needs to break a tie.

Carl Campagna, who lost his bid to become chairman to Halverson, is more skeptical of allowing Fukumoto into the party, however, and said he expects it will involve challenging questions.

“My opinion is that she should stay where she is because what her party needs is a more moderate voice,” he said, adding that he didn’t think that her comments against Trump made her a Democrat, but rather someone who is ethical and has a “good conscience.”

Campagna, who does not have a vote on Fukumoto, said the more important thing is for the Democratic Party to have the conversation, get more clarity about what its platform is and better define the criteria for accepting people into the party.

“I actually recognize that in some ways, not all ways, she is actually more progressive than some of the other people listed as Democrats,” said Campagna.