Endorsements

Dear Democratic Women,

I wanted to reach out personally about a decision our Board made this week, because I think it deserves more than a line in a press release.

On September 17, after our Elections, Endorsements, and Legislation (EEL) Committee‘s thoughtful, thorough interviews with candidates across every contested Santa Barbara city race, the Board sat down to vote on our endorsements ahead of November. When the votes were counted, we didn’t reach the 60% supermajority our bylaws require in three races: Mayor, City Council District 4, and City Council District 5.

I know that might sound, at first, like we came up short. I don’t see it that way, and I hope you won’t either.

Our 60% threshold is intentionally a high bar — it works a bit like a filibuster. It’s there so that when we do put our name behind a candidate, it means something: real, broad consensus among our directors, not just a slim majority carrying the day. In each of these three races, more than one Democrat running for the same seat earned genuine, committed support on our Board. Good people, thoughtfully argued for, split our vote — which is exactly what should happen when the field is this strong.

So if anything, I’d ask you to read this not as a story about candidates who fell short, but about how many good options Santa Barbara Democrats have this year. That’s a genuinely good problem to have.

I’ll also say the quiet part out loud: it is a problem, in a practical sense, when several strong Democrats run for the same seat. Splitting our vote among candidates who all deserve support can make it harder for any one of them to win outright, and that’s worth all of us thinking about as we get closer to November.

My thanks to our EEL Committee for the care they put into this process, and to every candidate who sat down with us and answered our questions honestly. I’d encourage all of you to look at the candidates’ records yourselves, attend a forum if you can, and vote your conscience on November 3.

As always, thank you for the trust you place in this Board and in each other.

In solidarity,
Claudette Roehrig
President, Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County