I was born and raised in La Jolla, California. I spent my youth swimming, reading, and hiking. San Diego was sprawling into its remaining valleys, canyons, hills, and mesas, and many of the places I looked for lizards or tadpoles are now malls or office complexes. In 2003, the Cedar Fire burnt nearly every tree in the 26,000 acre Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, where I grew up hiking. A lot of my feelings and thoughts about nature and conservation are rooted in this experience of loving threatened or disappearing places.

I attended UC Berkeley, where I received a BA in English, then built a bed in the back of the family car and convinced my dad to drive from San Diego to Ushuaia, Argentina with me. Back home, I flew out to DC for a stint as a White House Intern for Bill Clinton, working for the National Economic Council and its Climate Change Task Force in the run up to Kyoto. I then did an MFA in Creative Writing at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. I spent the next seven years in a doctoral program in UCSD’s Anthropology Department. My dissertation work was in land use, municipal politics, and ethnic conflict in Peru’s southern highlands. Upon receiving my PhD, I took over the directorship of the Sequoia Foundation. We primarily do grant and contract work for state and federal agencies, including fisheries management, marine protected area analysis, nuclear energy policy, community resilience, superfund site remediation, and socio-economic impact of environmental disasters. In November 2016 we drafted the nation of Tuvalu’s Climate Migration Policy. 

Around 2012, I began getting much more involved in California native plants and land stewardship. In 2013, I was able to acquire the first parcels of a large property on the north slope of Volcan Mountain, north of Julian in east San Diego County. I eventually put together a coalition of state and federal agencies--including NRCS, CALFIRE, USFWS, and USFS--to assist in cone collection, seedling propagation, site prep, and reforestation. We’ve planted nearly a thousand seedlings over the last five years and collected hundreds of thousands of seeds for propagation throughout southern California.

Starting in 2016, I became heavily involved in Democratic politics. I ran successfully for a seat on the Democratic State Central Committee, then for the remainder of a four year term on the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee, then for Executive Board of the California Democratic Party. I’ve spent the last three years organizing, advocating, and writing on environmental, public education, and housing issues. I testify regularly at San Diego City Council and San Diego County Board of Supervisors against sprawl development, general plan amendments, inadequate climate action plans, underfunding of urban forestry, and disinvestment in communities of color.

I’m currently President of the San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action. In addition, I serve as Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon’s appointee to the San Diego River Conservancy Governing Board. I’m a Director of the Resource Conservation District of Greater San Diego, a member of the Volcan Mountain Foundation Stewardship Committee, a member of CNPS San Diego’s Conservation Committee, and a Trustee of the La Jolla Town Council. I live with my wife and two children in my hometown of La Jolla, where I am Director of the Sequoia Foundation, a nonproft social science research firm dedicated to assessing the socio-economic impacts of environmental disasters. 

My true passions are reading, writing, land stewardship, and family. My wife and I have two young children--Bardot and Sequoia--and if I weren’t trying to save their world, I’d be spending every possible moment sharing time with them.

Loxie is a proud coastal San Diego native who has now set down roots with her own family- her husband and 4 year old daughter in her home town of Pacific Beach. She is a graduate of La Jolla High and San Diego State University. You might recognize her from her time working for local sports teams- first as a member of the San Diego Padres Pad Squad, in-game host for Petco Park and then for the San Diego Gulls. Her life took a change when she became a mom in 2015 and she decided to dedicate her life to the prevention of Adverse Childhood Experiences and be a voice to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens.

Loxie is a leader in the world of Institutional Child Abuse reform. She brings to the table a unique outlook by being a child victim turned survivor, activist and expert in the field. The injustices she saw seeking justice for her own case led to the revelation that there was still so much work to be done on the ground and inside our governmental systems to prevent and respond to Child Abuse. 

Loxie works closely with Child Advocacy Centers, Law Enforcement, District Attorneys, Child Welfare Services, County Health and Human Services and other governmental agencies nationwide as an advocate and trusted advisor for policy and procedural reform. 

Loxie was named as 2017 Voice of the Year and the article about her whistleblowing coverage began what is now known as the Education Sexual Misconduct series at Voice of San Diego and is the recipients of many awards for its excellence in journalism. 

In terms of her activism and work governmentally- Loxie is listed as the victim inspiration behind AB218 for Child Abuse Statute of Limitations extension signed into law in 2019, and the citizen sponsor of AB989. Loxie  acutally used the power of Central Committee to create a dialogue with San Diego Unified in order to create the Multi-Agency Task Force for the Protection of District Students.

Through her advocacy, she worked with County leaders to edit the San Diego County Child Victim Witness Protocol to be compliant with an Institutional lens for prevention and response. She is also helping as the legislative chair for the California Democratic Party Children’s Caucus and in the beginning stages of creating a Prevention of Adverse Childhood Experiences Commission at the City of San Diego. Loxie also donates her time as a victim advocate to parents struggling to get justice for their children after abuse.

Central Committee is the governing body of the County Democratic Party as defined in the California Government Code and Elections Code. It is comprised of local Democrats elected by voters in each Assembly District during Presidential Election years, as well as partisan-level Democratic elected officials and nominees. This group conducts the County Party's general business, approves its budget, coordinates Democratic campaign activity, and endorses candidates for local offices. (sddemocrats.org)

Central Committee serves a vital function in our democracy by being a microcosm of our local community where dedicated individuals can keep us moving forward by holding elected officials accountable to our ideals and insuring follow through with their campaign promises and conduct as an elected official.

Loxie, although not a current member of the Central Committee, is commonly present to use her voice to speak truth to power. As someone vehemently adamant about the rights of children and women to be free from abuse or violence- Loxie has been an active member of the San Diego activist circles by serving as a whistleblower, child advocate, and being a voice to children facing adversity across our county. Although known mostly for her work with children’s causes- Loxie is also active in immigration issues, humanitarian crises, and racial justice. 

On your March 3rd, 2020 Primary Ballot, as a registered member of the Democratic Party you will have a Dem specific portion of your ballot where you will select your preferred candidate for the Presidency and right below that will be the ballot portion for Central Committee. Your ballot will tell you that you can select up to 6 candidates, but you are able to select just one candidate. 

Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi is a poverty attorney and a Commissioner on the San Diego County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.

As an immigrant herself, Parisa actively represents immigrants, communities of color, and low-income families in civil rights, race equity, and affordable housing cases on a pro bono basis. The State Bar of California has awarded her the Wiley W. Manuel Award and the Distinguished Service Award for her pro bono work. 

In 2019, Parisa served as a delegate at the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women in New York City, on behalf the UNA-USA San Diego and the National Association of Women Judges. Parisa's pro bono work also includes work with homeless veterans at Stand Down, and with incarcerated women at Las Colinas Detention Facility.

Parisa serves as the Assistant Director of Public Service at University of San Diego Law, where she serves as an advisor to the next generation of social justice attorneys to help launch their public interest careers, directs the law school’s Pro Bono Program, and teaches a Poverty Law course to upper-level law students. She serves as an advisor to the law school’s NLG chapter and Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter. She also serves on Equal Justice Works’ National Advisory Committee.

She serves as a Commissioner on the San Diego County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. She is a Vice Chair of the Commission and serves as Chair of the CEDAW Committee, focused on the UN's International Treaty (the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women).

From 2014 to 2017, she served as San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program’s Pro Bono Manager and Supervising Attorney, where she oversaw civil legal services for homeless veterans and persons with HIV/AIDS, and supervised attorneys on cases involving public benefits, health law, disability discrimination, and affordable housing.

Prior to that, she served as a Staff Attorney and then a Managing Attorney for Legal Services of Northern California in Sacramento, where she practiced poverty law, representing low-income families in eviction and public benefits cases, and served on the California Elder Justice Coalition to address and advise on elder abuse legislation. She started her poverty law career in 2010 under funding from President Obama's Recovery and Reinvestment Act through which she represented low-income families in eviction and public benefit cases in rural Mendocino County, and organized the first of now-annual naturalization workshops for low-income immigrants.

Codi Vierra moved to San Diego in the fall of 2012 to attend UC San Diego. She earned her Bachelor’s degree with a major in Political Science, concentrating on American Politics, and two minors in Business, and in Urban Studies and Planning.

She began her entry into local politics while at UCSD, first volunteering on Congressman Scott Peters’ 2012 race for Congress, and then returning to serve as an intern on his re-election campaign in 2014. She later served on the executive board of the College Democrats at UCSD as the Communications Director and then as Associate Vice President of Internal Affairs. In these roles she sent weekly newsletters to inform the membership and managed the organization’s social media, as well as organized formal quarterly debates and joint meetings with the College Republicans and other organizations.

She also served as the Executive Director of the Student Organized Voter Access Committee (SOVAC) under the Associated Students (A.S.) Office of External Affairs. In this role, she negotiated a new agreement with several residential area administrators to allow for door-to-door voter registration in on-campus housing the week prior to voter registration deadlines. She was responsible for organizing the annual move-in voter registration drive in each residential area, in which she recruited, trained, and managed volunteers to register 1000 students, later registering a total of over 2000 students before the 2016 primary. She negotiated with the San Diego County Registrar of Voters (ROV) to have a new Mail-Ballot Drop-Off location on campus for the 2016 primary, in order to make voting easier and more convenient. She then recruited, scheduled, and managed 12 students that served as paid workers for the ROV, in order to manage it. She organized events for SOVAC and A.S. to increase engagement, including a San Diego City Council District 1 Candidate Forum. She also assisted with other goals and projects of the A.S. Office of External Affairs, including as a lead for UCSD’s delegation to the annual UC Student Lobby Conference in Sacramento, in which she helped train students on how to talk to their representatives about budget priorities and the issues that are most important to them.

In 2017 she served as Deputy South State Regional Director for the California Young Democrats (CYD), and then was elected South State Regional Director in 2018. In these roles, she helped start and grow Democratic clubs at local high schools and colleges in San Diego County, leading it to be the largest and most active region in the state. She raised funds to allow for increased participation by local chapters within CYD, including attending conventions and State Leadership Committee meetings. In 2019, she was elected Secretary, and was awarded the CYD Outstanding Leadership Award for her efforts.

In 2019 she was also elected to serve as an Assembly District Delegate to the California Democratic Party (CDP) from Assembly District 78. She was then appointed to serve on the CDP Voter Services Committee, through which she is helping the party with its goal of increasing student voter registration and participation. This year she was also able to pass a resolution through the CDP supporting the restoration of voting rights for Californians in prison or on parole, making it an official position of the party.

Codi also served as Secretary, Director of Membership, and now Vice President of the San Diego County Young Democrats (SDCYD). As Secretary, she kept meeting minutes, created a new ranked choice voting process, prepared ballots for endorsement meetings, and contributed extensively to the bylaws review process. As Director of Membership, she created a new process for joining and renewal to ensure the club had all required information for rechartering with the SDCDP, CDP and CYD, thus ensuring maximum representation for the club in each organization’s endorsement process. As Vice President, she chairs the Political Affairs Committee, responsible for determining the club’s endorsement calendar, candidate questionnaires, noticing candidates according to bylaws and party rules, and organizing political activities for the club.

In 2019 she was also elected Vice President of the new University City (U City) Democratic Club, and has helped guide the club through its first year, including the 2020 primary endorsement process.

In 2017, Codi was elected an at-large member of the San Diego County Democratic Party Council of Clubs Club Development Committee, led by the Director of the Council of Clubs, and served until 2019. Through this role, she assisted local clubs and the Director, providing feedback about impacts of proposed bylaw amendments, especially on Young Democrats clubs. She also gave a presentation to the Council in 2018 on the benefits of using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for endorsement meetings. Many clubs were already using a multi-round voting process that required members to stay present at meetings for hours on end to go through multiple rounds, or risk hurting their preferred candidate in later rounds. Many clubs have now started adopting RCV, making endorsement meetings faster, smoother, and more accessible.

Codi has also worked on multiple campaigns in the region, and so has observed and engaged with the party and its processes from the outside, as well as within. Recently, when concerns came up about the role of clubs in the local party’s endorsement process, Codi put forth a series of proposals to reform it, including changing the area recommendation process to mimic the CDP’s regional pre-endorsement process, which would give weighted votes to clubs based on the size of their membership, rather than one vote per club, in order to eliminate the incentive for club-splitting. She was appointed an Alternate member of the SDCDP Central Committee this past spring, and so currently has the ability to speak, but not to vote on these matters.

Codi has spent a lot of time working with the local and state parties, including representing groups and Democratic voters in Assembly District 78. She hopes to continue this work, and earn a voting position on the SDCDP Central Committee in order to better advocate for positive change within.

As a full scope women's health care doctor including being an abortion provider, mother of a toddler and 7 year old, and triathlete, you can guarantee that I have endurance, tenacity and discipline. I served on the San Francisco Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force and several Boards in the past, and I currently serve as the Legislative Chair of the California Democratic Party Women's Caucus. All of these experiences have helped me realize my desire to influence change and advocate for my community on a larger level by running for public office. I am also in the current Emerge California 2016 class and understand the importance of getting more women at the decision making table. As a medical provider, I am trained to listen and utilize a shared-decision making model to come up with a plan. I will take these skills and apply them to our San Francisco residents so that they can be heard and supported via my participation in the San Diego Central Committee.

I am a Democrat since I believe it is the party that values the individual’s contributions to bettering themselves and the group/world at large. The expression of one’s views are encouraged and incorporated into the decision making process. I believe in poverty mitigation and asset building via fair pay and improved job opportunities. As a working mother, I will work to ensure quality and affordable childcare and preschool, even working towards offering on-site options if feasible for our families in line with the Democratic values. I am distressed to learn that the Democratic party is losing membership, and I believe the function of the County Central Committee is ensure the reversal of this trend. I will work towards increasing member and registering people to vote at citizenship ceremonies, public parks, street fairs, and farmer’s markets. The Central Committee has currently reached a critical level of divisiveness which will only result in our opponents succeeding- we must focus on the issues that make us Democrats and support the city of San Diego to be great. The Central Committee’s role with regard to environmental issues is to endorse and promote protections of the environment so that we can be proud of the city in which our children will reside. 

I was born and raised in Oceanside and am going on two years living in San Diego proper. During this time, I've lived in the communities of North Park and Talmadge and have now settled down with my family in University Heights. I'm a recent graduate of CSU San Marcos, having earned my Bachelor's degree in Political Science. Professionally, I've worked on several campaigns over the past two years ranging from City Council races to Presidential campaigns. I'm now transitioning to the field of education, where I plan to teach high school government and civics. I'm the proud mother of a young son, who's a kindergarten student at Alice Birney Elementary. I currently serve on the Central Committee as an Associate Member and co-chair of the Platform Committee. I'm the founder and President of the San Diego Vegan Democrats and former President of the CSUSM College Democrats. 

My political philosophy is rooted in the inherent equality of all people, equity, and restortive than punitive justice. I highly value direct democracy and participation in the political process. I believe in a just economy in which there is no homelessness, poverty, or hunger and believe we are fully capable of acheiving this. I consider myself anti-capitialist, anti-imperialist, an intersectional feminist, a Progressive Democrat, and a Democratic Socialist. 

Gretchen Newsom is an accomplished and talented political strategist, community leader, and advocate of working families.

Gretchen works as the Political Director for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 569 and organizes efforts to invest in local good-paying, green-collar jobs, workforce development, civic engagement, and alternative energy. Additionally, she serves on the California Employment Training Panel.

She served for four terms as President of the Ocean Beach Town Council, and worked toward preserving and improving community resources, advocating for a sustainable local economy, enhancing community dialogue and civic engagement, increasing neighborhood safety, and maintaining the unique “vibe” of Ocean Beach. Ms. Newsom chaired the famous night-time OB Holiday Parade, and she is a member of the OB Historical Society, Friends of the OB Library, and Run Women Run. She also served as an executive board member of the Point Loma Democratic Club.

She was previously employed by a social innovation firm that assists clients with creating physically, socially, and economically sustainable communities. In her role as Principal and Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs, Gretchen conducted research and analysis of policy initiatives, and tracked legislation connected to community development, environmental policies, affordable housing, homelessness, federal and state budgets, and new funding opportunities.

From 2009 to 2011, Gretchen served as Special Assistant to Chairman Phil Angelides of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), a bipartisan body charged with conducting the nation’s official inquiry into the causes of the financial and economic crisis and reporting its findings to the President, Congress, and the American people.

In that role, she was instrumental in managing the FCIC’s start-up, operational infrastructure, external relations, and day-to-day operations. She was centrally involved in producing the Commission’s final report, which became a New York Times and Washington Post best seller – it was hailed as “the most comprehensive indictment of the American financial failure that has yet been made” and “the definitive history of this period.” After the release of the report, Gretchen organized and executed an international book tour and interfaced with the European Parliament on the presentation of this U.S. report.

Gretchen previously worked for Phil Angelides in a variety of roles for over seven years. This included working on a partnership with Magic Johnson and Canyon Partners on the creation of affordable rental housing in urban areas, and starting a real estate investment firm focused on urban in-fill, smart growth developments, and clean energy projects. She also served as a Deputy Policy Director on a gubernatorial campaign, and conducted corporate research and drafted legislation while working at the California State Treasurer’s office.

Gretchen graduated Magna Cum Laude from Humboldt State University with a degree in Government and Politics, and was awarded with the “Woman of the Year” honor. Gretchen is also a graduate of the prestigious California State Executive Fellowship Program.

Gretchen lives in Ocean Beach with her son.

I am a Vietnamese immigrant who migrated to US in 1990. I graduated from UCLA and was the first in my family to earn a college degree.  With a background in the accounting field for over 20 years, I currently serve as Controller for a private company with multi-state branches.

Outside of work, I have been a volunteer community organizer working with many different organizations, including Indivisible SD Persist, Viet Vote, the Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Democratic Club, San Diego Progressive Democratic Club, and We The People San Diego. My volunteer work focuses mainly on the issues of Criminal Justice Reform, Racial Justice, Income Inequality, Social Equity, Rent Stabilization, Voter Education, Affordable Housing and other issues affecting the homeless population.  I have worked to successfully make change at the local government level as well as in State legislation.

Currently, I am devoting most of my attention to increase more AAPI voting and civic engagement on issues that are important to AAPI communities. Recognizing the lack of AAPI representation in our government, I also want to create a stronger AAPI political network to provide support for progressive AAPI candidates running for office.

I also serve on the steering committee of the TRUST SD Coalition - a coalition of over 30 community groups organizing around the issue of Mass Surveillance Technology.  Trust SD works to increase awareness of surveillance technology currently being used, how that technology affects the public, and advocates for more transparency in our government and creation and adoption of a surveillance technology oversight policy.

I believe in many progressive ideas because these changes we need to bring social, economic, gender & racial justice & equity to the underserved & oppressed. We are living in a society where Black folks are subjected to police brutality & deadly force & racial profiling & mass incarceration, a society where voting rights are suppressed, a society where women are paid less than men, a society where POC are not represented enough & not having a seat at the table where policies are discussed, a society where healthcare is not accessible or affordable to all, a society where income inequality is so great that the working class are vulnerable to become homelessness, and a society where the 1% & corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes & contribution, a society where our environment are constantly being damaged by human's reckless & abuse, and a society where our immigrants are degraded as second citizens without rights & children are separated from their parents & locked up in cages.

I believe in Medicare for All, Green New Deal & Climate Change emergency to raise awareness for better policies that will help us to protect our environment, Voting Rights for folks who have done their time, Equal Pay for women, Rent Stabilization to help poor folks allowing them to keep a roof over them for shelter. I will continue to advocate for policies that will not criminalize our Homeless folks & treat them with humanity & compassion, policies that protects & supports immigrants & refugees as we are all immigrants, laws that will decriminalize poor & Black & POC folks against mass incarceration, and bills that will require the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes & contribution to this society.  

But most of all, I am advocating most for a transparency in our government as well as clean election & politics. We cannot expect to take corporate's money & donations, and not feeling the pressure of those lobby interest in shaping policies with progressive values. If we are to build a trust again with the people for our government, we will need to take these notion of transparency & corporate-free with seriousness, and a clean election process to encourage the public to participate in a true democracy. 

Google me for recent news articles, etc.

bryanpease.com

I have been an active member of our local party since 2004 when I traveled to Arizona to do Spanish language outreach for John Kerry. I joined the fledgling GO Team in 2005 and, in 2006, I led Grassroots Organizing Team ("GO-Team") and volunteer coordination for the Democratic Party at the north county office in Escondido. In 2008, I became the GO Team South Region Vice Chair. In this role, I acted as volunteer coordinator and led Spanish language outreach efforts in the 2008 South County offices, 2010 South County office and the 2012 South County Primary Office for the Democratic Party

Starting in 2011, I became active in the medical marijuana movement, serving as political and executive director of the medical marijuana professional association in San Diego County. I ran local medical marijuana initiative campaigns starting in 2012, culminating in the successful passage of the ballot initiatives for medical marijuana access in La Mesa and Lemon Grove. I was the head of the San Diego campaign to legalize marijuana in California in 2016. 

In 2015, I formed the Alliance for Community Engagement, a nonprofit to increase civic engagement and voter awareness.  Under my leadership, in 2016, we partnered with the Black Political Association of California (BAPAC) and Next-Gen to create and execute "My Family Votes/¡Mi Familia Vota!" program to register and turnout voters in communities of color.  In 2018, we conducted a Vote-By-Mail registration drive, as well as voter education and pre-education drive in high schools around San Diego County.   We also created the "Art on Third" art and community events space in Chula Vista to foster art and civic involvement in the community. 

In 2018, I was the voter systems administrator for the San Diego County Democratic Party. My duties included setting up voter/volunteer information databases for candidates, training candidates on how to best use these systems, and assisting them, as well as the party, in generating target universes for voter contact.  I also administered social media outreach for the San Diego County Democratic Party, as its facebook administer. 

In 2018 - 2019, I also ran the "We are United"/"Estamos Unidos" campaign of inclusion for the San Diego Democratic Party, to combat the divisiveness, hate and exclusion of minority communities by Donald Trump and the Republican Party. 

This year, I will be organizing with local San Diegans and traveling to swing states to defeat Donald Trump, and his Senate enablers, and restore decency, dignity and sanity to our federal government.  

I don't just talk the talk; I walk the walk - I will do the work to promote our values on Democratic Central Committee!

We MUST address the climate crisis head-on, at every level of government NOW - it is an imminent threat to our communities and way of life.  We must reform our healthcare system - the most costly, inefficient and unequal in the developed world. And we must reform our tax code so that the rich are taxed their fair share, by eliminating tax breaks and loopholes for the wealthy, and ensuring that they are paying their fair share of social security. 

I believe that all voters should have an equal voice - regardless of their wealth or connection.  I believe that corporate influence has had a corrosive effect on our government, has made our elections less democratic, and led to some horrible policies that have caused some of the biggest problems we see today - exorbitant health care costs, the global warming crisis, and the ever widening opportunity gap between the rich and the rest.   Overturning Citizens United and getting rid of corporate influence in politics is paramount to creating a democracy that serves us all. 

I believe in, and have seen, the power of grassroots activism, and I know that a small group of dedicated individuals can change the world. I want the local Democratic Party to be the vehicle to organize for progressive change. 

Since 2010, with a background in open source software development, consensus-based decision-making and cooperative business operation, I have volunteered and contracted technology services to dozens of grassroots progressive projects including local progressive candidates, nonprofits, and community groups and initiatives. I was a founding volunteer-turned-Associate Director of Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) from 2014-2017. I was elected and served as treasurer of San Diego Refugee Forum from 2016-2018, and am a member of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) San Diego Chapter, Jewish Voice for Peace San Diego, Tech Worker Coalition (TWC) San Diego Chapter, and was elected and am currently serving as Secretary for the San Diego County Democratic Party.

I am currently building free tech tools for community organizers as Include People, including Every Public Meeting, a website to make it easy to find, attend, and take part in every meeting: county, city, school, and local.

Please get in touch with any questions. I hope to earn your vote!

I believe that a rising tide lifts all boats.

As a San Diego resident in these times, I believe we have a duty to learn and consider our histories as we work together to ensure rights and equitable opportunities for all.

Since the first violent invasions of Kumeyaay Land in 1769 through today, greedy wealthy people and institutions have hoarded money and power in San Diego by dividing working class people, and disproportionately harming Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and TLGBQ+ communities. But histories like the Lemon Grove Incident, the formation of Chicano Park and the numerous large-scale mobilizations for Black, Intersectional, Immigrant and Refugee human rights and liberation shows that we in the San Diego-Tijuana region are all in this together. While we face urgent challenges, when we fight for each other we all win.

Will Rodriguez-Kennedy is the Chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party. An award winning former reporter, activist and veteran of the United States Marine Corps he has over a decade of combined military and community service.

Born in the South Bronx, one of the poorest communities in the country. Will escaped poverty by joining the United States Marine Corps. The son of bank teller (who became a police officer) and a janitor, Will is of Puerto Rican descent and is mixed race (Latino / Black). He is a member of the LGBTQ+ community. 

In 2008, Will was honorably discharged from the military under the unconstitutional “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. After fighting out of homelessness, he made international headlines in his fight against the policy specifically being among the first to attempt to reenlist when it was ruled unconstitutional in 2010.

Since then he has been active in local politics. Among his awards he was named Veteran of the Year for the 77th Assembly District in 2009, he was voted Outstanding Community Activist at the Nicky Awards in 2011, received a San Diego Press Club award for his coverage of government and politics in a non-daily newspaper, San Diego LGBT Weekly and was inducted into the San Diego LGBT Community Center's Benjamin Dillingham and Bridget Wilson Veteran's Wall of Honor in 2013.

Will is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Young Professional Council’s leadership academy, a program of the San Diego LGBT Community Center and is currently a communications major.

Will served on the board of directors of San Diego LGBT Pride from 2010 to 2013 and as an officer of the board from 2011-2013. He also served as a member of the San Diego County Veteran's Advisory Council from 2010 - 2016.

He currently serves as President of the California Young Democrats and as an Executive Board Member, Platform Committee Member of the California Democratic Party.

Will Rodriguez-Kennedy is a Progressive Democrat and has dedicated his life to the intersectional fight for social, racial, reproductive and economic justice.

Bernadette is a native San Diegan and grew up in the labor movement, shouting her first bad word on a UNITE HERE Local 30 picket line at the Hotel Del Coronado at age 5, “Hotel Del Cheap as Hell!” Dedicated to the betterment of her community, she went on to complete CPI’s Students for Economic Justice Fellowship Program in 2014 while pursuing her undergraduate studies. Bernadette graduated with a bachelor’s in Political Science from Sonoma State University where she served all four years in the Associated Student Body, lobbying both at the state and local level on issues faced by students following the Great Recession.

In her current role as Political Organizer for the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local #230, she advocates for apprenticeship and training opportunities that create pathways to middle class careers. Since joining her union, she has doubled the women membership in her local by focusing not only on recruitment, but also retention of women in the trade. Bernadette implemented Sisters in Solidarity and an active Political Education Committee dedicated to electing pro-worker allies to local office.

Bernadette was a founding member of San Diego Coalition of Labor Union Women and served as the club’s President in the 2017-2018 term. During her tenure, she focused on educational and leadership development programs that supported women to take on positions of power in their local union. Bernadette has also overseen $4.9 billion worth of projects in her role as Chair of the Construction Sub-Committee for the San Diego Unified Bond Oversight Committee, advocating for equitable and just development throughout the city of San Diego.

San Diego County Democrat Central Committee is important because we conduct interviews of elected-office candidates and ballot measures and vote to endorse those that will best serve Democrats like you.  I’ve served as an alternate member of the Committee for three years and if elected this year, I will be sure to put focus on important issues in our community: Thoughtful, county-wide homelessness prevention practices, career technical training in our public schools, and meaningful development that fits within the fabric of our unique communities.  The choices for Central Committee will be below U.S. President on the ballot. A maximum of six selections for Central Committee are allowed and anymore than six will invalidate your selections in this section.  Be sure to not over-vote and please do not skip this section.  See you on the ballot!