#StopTheSteal caravans are coming to SLO County, but few GOP leaders will comment
As ballot counting continued across the country Friday, supporters of President Trump planned a “Stop The Steal” truck rally to caravan across the Central Coast in protest of unfounded allegations of election fraud.
The goal of the event is to cast doubt on the integrity of the election results and “drag the interstate” and “circle the town” in vehicles from Santa Maria to Templeton in support of Trump, according to a flier of the event that circulated on Facebook Friday.
There has been no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
Despite the incendiary nature of the event, local elected Republican officials had little to say about it or its organizers’ aim to undermine the presidential election, which appeared headed toward victory for former Vice President Joe Biden.
The Tribune reached out to 11 local elected officials, candidates, and members of the Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County.
Only three responded and were willing to comment.
Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham said simply that it’s important to “count every vote.”
“Every vote should be counted and the democratic process should be respected,” said Cunningham, who is poised for re-election after widening his margin over challenger Dawn Addis to 6 points and almost 12,000 votes. He had no further comment on the “Stop The Steal” campaign.
Two others — Ranelle Baldwin, president of the San Luis Obispo Federation of Republican Women, and congressional candidate Andy Caldwell — expressed support for First Amendment rights, but neither would denounce the “Stop The Steal” movement.
After Trump’s historically unprecedented remarks Thursday that Democrats are “stealing the election,” Facebook shut down a “Stop The Steal” group that had exploded to 350,000 members Thursday promoting events dedicated to delegitimizing only election results that don’t favor Trump.
“Central Coast patriots we need you!” reads a flier that circulated on social media Friday. “Join your city’s MAGA Drag and circle your town in support of President Trump and the counting of ALL LEGAL votes! PLEASE SHARE!”
The advertisement says that on Sunday, four separate “MAGA Drags” will occur in Templeton, Atascadero, the Five Cities/Nipomo area and Santa Maria.
The flier twice uses the hashtag #StopTheSteal, as well as #Ridefor45, which on Twitter shows several similar events planned across the country over the weekend.
The Tribune reached out to three email addresses on the flier for more information; one was returned as undeliverable, and another did not receive a response.
The third, to the supposed organizer of the Atascadero rally, was answered by a “Maria Smith” who replied by asking a Tribune reporter how he obtained the flier and did not respond to questions.
The Atascadero event is advertised as meeting in the parking lot of the SpringHill Suites by Marriott near Home Depot.
When contacted Friday, the hotel’s general manager told The Tribune that the event has “absolutely no affiliation” with the business.
Sheriff’s Office urges peace
In response to a request for comment on the event from county Sheriff Ian Parkinson, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla wrote in an email Friday: “Sheriff Parkinson has always upheld and supported all people’s constitutional right to free speech and freedom of expression, no matter the cause, as long as it is peaceful.”
Asked followup questions about whether Parkinson has any message to constituents questioning the democratic process and whether additional deputies would be on hand to ensure the public’s safety during Sunday’s event, Cipolla wrote that the agency “prepares for any event no matter the cause.”
“The sheriff doesn’t have any further comment other than to urge all people to protest peacefully,” Cipolla wrote.
Parkinson, a Republican, received criticism over comments he made this summer at a North County Tea Party event in which he accused Black Lives Matter demonstrators of “lawless behavior” and said their protests serve “no purpose, other than destruction.”
Elected San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow’s agency is currently prosecuting eight Black Lives Matter protesters for allegedly blocking Highway 101 during a July 21 march.
Dow, a Republican, has publicly voiced support for Trump and criticized Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a former California attorney general, on social media.
Dow did not respond to The Tribune’s email or text messages Friday.
None of the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors’ conservative majority — Debbie Arnold, Lynn Compton or John Peschong — responded to email and voice messages seeking comment Friday. Arnold’s legislative assistant late Friday said she was in meetings all day and unavailable for comment.
County Assessor Tom Bordonaro, a former chair of the county Republican Party, and current party chair Randall Jordan, also failed to respond to Tribune inquiries.
Atascadero’s newly re-elected mayor, Heather Moreno, also a member of the local Republican Party, said via text message Friday that she was out on vacation and not aware of the event, and she did not wish to comment without researching it.
The Tribune did not reach out to Assemblyman Cunningham’s campaign until late Friday, when he was unavailable for comment. But Cunningham, a Republican, released a statement Tuesday night saying that it was important to count all ballots in the election, a comment his campaign’s spokesman reiterated to The Tribune Friday.
Two Republicans respond about MAGA Drag
Caldwell, who is poised to lose to incumbent U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal in the 24th Congressional District race, did respond to questions.
Asked about whether he thinks the election is fraudulent, Caldwell said by email Friday that “ballot harvesting (legal in CA — but nevertheless done elsewhere illegally with ease) creates the conditions for massive fraud.”
“I do support and PREFER car rallies to riots, looting, spitting and stomping on our flag, cursing bystanders, and firebombing police stations and court buildings,” Caldwell wrote, adding that he unequivocally condemns local Black Lives Matter activists’ “reckless disregard for public safety by way of blocking the freeway.”
There have been no local riots, looting or firebombing of buildings related to local Black Lives Matter protests. Media reports and social media posts show that some pro-Trump vehicle caravans have blocked traffic on roads and highways elsewhere in the U.S.
Asked for elaboration on the #StopTheSteal allegations of election fraud, Caldwell wrote: “I believe there is some fraud going on. How much I don’t know.”
However, Caldwell also says he believes that Trump and the Republican party “shot themselves in the foot by discouraging their supporters from mailing in their ballots.”
Baldwin, president of the San Luis Obispo Federation of Republican Women, echoed Caldwell’s sentiments in an email, saying that in some states other than California, ballot harvesting “if not made lawful does indeed make it illegal.”
“I’m currently the president of SLO Republican Women Federated and have much respect for all Americans to express their constitutional rights. That includes both those like-minded and in opposition,” Baldwin wrote. “How we can best express differences respectively is how we evolve to a better community and country.”
She wrote that she participated in one local “MAGA drag interstate” event, though she did not specify where, and said she “was impressed that maturity of freedom of speech can be expressed to each other and shown in a public way without harm to anyone or any property properly.”
She did not respond to followup questions about alleged election fraud.
‘A pattern of silence’
This is not the first time local elected officials from the Republican Party have simply refused to respond to the media on issues of public interest in heated political moments.
John Alan Connerley, spokesman for the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Party, said by phone Friday that it’s disappointing but not surprising that locally elected members of the Republican Party aren’t talking.
“The lack of response by our local and our state Republican Party concerning the comments that the current occupant of the White House is making, the fact that you’re not hearing from them, is not surprising,” Connerley said. “This is not something new — it’s a disturbing pattern.”
Connerley said that in years past, the local GOP was an “admirable adversary” that would debate partisan issues on their merits, but in recent years under Trump, local conservative figures have maintained a “pattern of silence.”
“This doesn’t square with the historic Republican Party. (The local GOP) has been taken over by extremists,” he added. “They’re not able to speak directly to the issues because their own house is not in order.”
As of late Friday, Biden maintained his lead in the presidential race with 264 projected electoral votes to Trump’s 214. The winner of the race is expected to be called by Sunday.
This story has been updated to expand Jordan Cunningham’s comment and to add the latest numbers in his re-election campaign.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 4:52 PM.
