Local elections can be difficult to navigate, especially for people who are aligned with one political party or another. Like-minded individuals can often find themselves on opposite sides of an issue in local city politics. As a volunteer for the Laguna Beach Democratic Club, and a Laguna Beach resident, I wanted to clarify a couple of points in Ann Christoph’s opinion piece last week about local endorsements.
Laguna Beach Democratic Club bylaws state we may only endorse registered Democrats. The same is true for the Democratic Party of Orange County. We work closely with the DPOC in our endorsement process. According to Ajay Mohan, Executive Director for the DPOC, he reached out to Jerome Pudwill inviting him to apply for their endorsement. Pudwill did not respond to that outreach, nor did he ever contact the Laguna Beach Democratic Club, the only Democratic club in Laguna Beach and the oldest Democratic club in Orange County, asking us to consider his endorsement.
Two candidates sought our endorsement—Alex Rounaghi and Mayor Sue Kempf.
Also, to set the record straight about our local ballot initiatives, the Laguna Beach Democratic Club did not take any position on Measures Q, R, or S.
As one of many activists here in Laguna Beach, I admire and respect all those who are fighting hard for the local candidates and ballot measures they are choosing to support. It is my sincere hope once this election has been decided, the amazing Democrats of Laguna Beach can come together once again to fight for the causes we all believe in protecting our environment, access to affordable healthcare, women’s reproductive freedom, sensible gun laws, and so much more.
Gwen McNallan, president of the Laguna Beach Democratic Club
