SLO County supervisor candidate attended Jan. 6 rally in D.C. that led to Capitol riot
A Republican candidate for San Luis Obispo County supervisor who ran as a self-described “moderate” attended the Jan. 6 “Save America” rally in Washington, D.C., prior to the Capitol riot by a pro-Trump mob seeking to overturn the presidential election results.
Stacy Korsgaden, who narrowly lost a bid for the District 3 supervisor seat to the late Adam Hill in March 2020, is seen in a photograph obtained by The Tribune at what appears to be President’s Park, the site of the rally.
Korsgaden confirmed her attendance Wednesday.
“It was middle America, I’m telling you,” she said of the rally and what she called the “peaceful and joyous” walk toward the Capitol afterwards. “I’m not ashamed of the fact that I went.”
The selfie photograph with her spouse Jodi Ramirez appears to show the White House in the background. A man whom The Tribune has not identified is also in the photo.
A second photo obtained from the same source reportedly taken by Ramirez also shows a pro-Trump crowd spread across the lawn outside the Capitol building, about two miles from President’s Park.
Korsgaden is not visible in the second photo and she declined to say whether she was nearby at the time it was taken, but she said that she didn’t witness any violence.
The same photo appears to show members of the mob crowding up against the Capitol steps with flags visible from the scaffolding adjacent to the steps.
The riot — which resulted in five deaths, including a Capitol police officer — followed a march by thousands of Trump supporters from President’s Park to disrupt a joint session of Congress convened to count the Electoral College votes won by then-President-elect Joe Biden.
The Biden administration has called the riot domestic terrorism, and members of white supremacist and anti-government groups were among the crowd, according to media reports, armed with flags and other objects used as weapons against police.
Candidate says she’s ‘mortified’ by violence
Reached by phone Wednesday, Korsgaden protested The Tribune’s inquiry and said she is a private citizen.
She said she attended the rally because of her concerns over “election integrity” in not only the presidential election, but also other unspecified races, though none in San Luis Obispo County.
“I am moderate. What is not moderate about discussing election integrity?” she said. “The main thing to me, and why I went, as an individual it’s not important to me who holds the office in that decision. We need to make sure there’s transparency and election integrity, and it’s the same whether we’re talking about Democrats or Republicans.”
She said that, should there be questions about election integrity in the next presidential election, “I would do exactly the same thing.”
“To go to your next question: Is Biden my president? Certainly. It’s been certified by Congress,” she said.
Korsgaden declined to go into detail about her specific concerns over the election, and instead likened the post-election process to referees debating a play in a sports event.
“If there’s a disagreement on the field, there’s a discussion and a judgment to be made ... and I support the judges, I support the whole mechanism that comes with it and I also understand the boos in the stadium,” she said. “There were people (in D.C.) that were unhappy with the integrity of the election, but ultimately who’s the judge and jury?”
She said she hasn’t attended many political rallies and ultimately found the “Save America” rally itself to be “kind of boring.” But she described the march toward the lawn in front of the Capitol building as “a peaceful and joyous walk of diverse Americans” of all ages.
Korsgaden — who said she “didn’t come anywhere near the entrance of (the Capitol) building” — said she was “mortified” by the mob’s storming of the building, which she said she did not witness but acknowledged was “not peaceful.”
“And I’m adamantly against it,” she said.
Korsgaden challenged a reporter to watch a full uncut video of the rally and ensuing “walk” to the Capitol building, which she reiterated was a “peaceful gathering.”
“If anyone were to challenge me, I would come right back to the them and say, ‘Is it not our American way to gather peacefully?’” she said.
Korsgaden also told The Tribune Wednesday that she is considering another run for public office.
Moving forward, she says she’s “trying to be a part of the change” to dampen the divisiveness in American politics.
“I want this insanity to stop,” she said. “I truly mean it, when I look around at all the loud voices across the country.”
Asked if participating in the “Save America” rally was a productive means to accomplish that, she responded: “Yes — it’s called peaceful gathering.”
‘I’m very moderate in the things that I do,’ Korsgaden says
Korsgaden, a Grover Beach insurance agent, lost her race for the coastal South County district seat to Hill by a mere 587 votes, with roughly 48.6% of the vote to Hill’s 51.4%.
The seat has since been filled by Democrat Dawn Ortiz-Legg, who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom following Hill’s death in August.
During the campaign, Korsgaden refuted claims made by Hill that she was a “Trump Republican.”
“I’m very moderate in the things that I do. I have a track record and a history of listening to people’s concerns and finding solutions,” she told The Tribune Editorial Board.
But Korsgaden — a gay woman who said she “never understood the Republican take on social issues” — wouldn’t say whether she favored Trump’s re-election.
“I am not going to participate in an issue, Donald Trump, that has nothing to do with the many issues of District 3,” she wrote in an Oct. 2, 2019, email. “This has to end somewhere, and I can only control me and how I chose to conduct my personal and public life.”
She told The Tribune’s Editorial Board that “one of the main issues people have with Trump and D.C. is tone,” and said that feedback from county residents was that they were tired of Hill’s tone.
“If you’re unhappy with the tone nationally, why would you be happy with it locally, Democrat or Republican?” Korsgaden said.
Since Jan. 6, many people who participated in the assault on the Capitol building have faced criminal charges and other professional and social repercussions after being publicly identified, but no charges or arrests have been tied directly to the “Save America” rally.
Last week, the CEO of an Orcutt senior center who talked about his participation in the rally in an interview with KSBY-TV resigned his position after the company’s board of directors was flooded with complaints from the community.
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 3:21 PM.
