Has the San Diego County Board of Supervisors become a stronghold for Democrats with the help of Terra Lawson-Remer?
San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer (D) was called out last year for her controversial past, including multiple arrests according to a source. According to the Community Leadership Coalition, Lawson-Remer has had multiple arrests as well as various comments regarding socialism and disapproval for capitalism.
Lawson-Remer’s history is addressed directly on her website with an entire page dedicated to addressing her controversial moments head on. Despite addressing the allegation of arrest, her website does not label the claim as false.
Lawson-Remer’s decision as supervisor to vote for an ordinance that redefines the term ‘women’ has also been marked controversial.
In April, the County Board of Supervisors passed “an ordinance to provide for the local implementation of the United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW).”
Although 437 people spoke out against the ordinance, the Board took a 3-2 vote with Lawson-Remer and two other Democrats blocking the two Republican votes. Proponents claim that is will protect women from discrimination, but opponents pointed out that it clearly changes the historical definition of women by now allowing the inclusion of biological men.
A once Republican battleground city in the blue state of California, San Diego has become a hot spot for Democrats to take new strides of control.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors previously had a Republican stronghold for more than 30 years, until three seats became available in the last election cycle of 2020. Liberals set their attention to the wild card of District 3, where the open supervisor position would allow them to flip the conservative 4-1 control.
That year, Lawson-Remer (D) beat incumbent Kristin Gaspar (R) in District 3 by more than 40,000 votes.
“Democrats who have so long been excluded from having the majority in the County Board of Supervisors, even in a county that’s been blue, in the last several elections, have been eyeing this opportunity,” UCSD political science chair Thad Kousser told NBC San Diego.
While Lawson-Remer has spent a large portion of her career on the east coast, notably as a senior adviser on the Obama Administration, she came back to San Diego working as a lead strategist for Flip the 49th! Neighbors in Action. The targeted campaign, which began in 2016, focused on electing a Democrat Mike Levin to the 49th Congressional District in San Diego.
