Tom Fulks: Beware of Trojan Horses running for office in San Luis Obispo
Trojan Horse candidates don’t want voters to know who they really are — because if voters knew, it might lessen their chances of winning.
There are several Trojan Horses running for office in San Luis Obispo County. Based on their campaign rhetoric, it’s pretty clear they’d prefer voters didn’t know.
This at a time anyone supporting President Trump — as some local candidates do could pay at the polls Nov. 3.
Trump lost to Hillary Clinton by eight points in SLO County in 2016 and stands to lose bigger this time. Trump’s sinking ship could take local supporters down with him — unless voters don’t know who they are.
This is especially true in the city of San Luis Obispo, where Democrats comprise 51 percent of registered voters, Republicans 20 percent, NPP (no party preference) voters 23 percent, with the remainder split among minor parties. Republicans are outnumbered by Democrats more than two-to-one. They’re even outnumbered by NPP voters.
So it’s no wonder two GOP-backed stalking-horses — one running for mayor, another for City Council — probably wouldn’t mind if no one knew about their deep Republican strategic and financial underpinnings.
Mayoral candidate Cherisse Sweeney and council candidate Abriana Torres — publicly claiming to be non-partisan moderates — appear to have bet voters won’t learn of their far-right roots and last-minute interest in local civic affairs after years of indifference.
Voter registration data indicate Sweeney moved to the city of SLO within the last two months from Avila Beach. Sweeney confirmed to radio host Dave Congalton on air Oct. 2 that she moved into town to run against incumbent Mayor Heidi Harmon.
Sweeney had been registered to vote in Avila Beach, where she didn’t vote in 10 of the last 13 elections. She’s now registered as a member of the far-right “American Independent” party, best known for its nomination of Alabama Gov. George Wallace for president in 1968 on a Jim Crow platform.
Sweeney today lists her home address as an apartment in SLO. Her husband is still a registered Republican at an address in Avila Beach.
Campaign records show both Sweeney and Torres hired Pacific Coast Strategies, operated by Amber Johnson, a political functionary who served on the campaign of Republican county Supervisor Lynn Compton and once worked at Meridian Pacific, a political consulting firm owned by Republican Supervisor John Peschong.
According to Johnson’s LinkedIn profile, she interned for former GOP Rep. Darrell Issa and claims to have helped the oil and gas industry defeat anti-fracking initiatives Measure G in SLO County and Measure P in Santa Barbara County.
Financial reports list Sacramento-based Political Finance Solutions, Inc., and eFundraising Connections as providing services to both campaigns. Both firms are established GOP operators listing numerous clients including the California Republican Party and California College Republicans.
Reports also show Sweeney and Torres received financial contributions from Republican Supervisor Debbie Arnold, a well-known Trump acolyte who traveled to the White House at the county’s expense to praise him. Sweeney’s website lists Arnold and Compton as endorsers.
Finance reports show Sweeney and Torres received contributions from Republican Santa Barbara County Supervisor-elect Bob Nelson and a legion of Republican donors.
In a lower-profile race but no less important, another stealth far-right candidate is running for a seat on the San Luis Coastal Unified School District board. The district encompasses the city of SLO and surrounding areas, and Los Osos and Morro Bay — heavy Democratic voting territory.
Schools candidate Eve Dobler Drew — as she’s known on Facebook, or LaBan Drew on Twitter — is backed by the SLO County GOP.
Based on her social media posts, she’s even more socially and religiously extreme than proselytizing District Attorney “Pastor” Dan Dow, who has declared us a “sanctuary county,” where worshippers can sign open-mouthed and full- throated and he won’t enforce the state’s public health laws to stop it.
Dobler Drew’s social media pages were littered with posts pushing gay conversion therapies, crackpot COVID cures, anti-Black Lives Matter screeds and anti-vaccine conspiracies involving the wife of Bill Gates. She scrubbed the more bizarre posts about a month ago after being featured on the SLOSense Facebook page.
Harmon, SLO City Council incumbent Andy Pease and school board candidate Kathryn Rogers are endorsed by the SLO County Democratic Party. None of them has called out the backgrounds of their opponents.
It’s puzzling why they haven’t. This is vital information, given the political leanings of the majority of voters. Taking the “high road” in campaigning is admirable, but — ironically — a bit extreme.
Voters could pay a high price for this holier-than-thou inaction — as did the Trojans who allowed the Greek gift horse into their city.
Tribune Columnist Tom Fulks serves on the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central Committee. He runs in rotation with conservative Columnist Joe Rouleau.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 5:30 AM.