Will Rodriguez-Kennedy is back at the helm of the San Diego County Democratic Party. He walked away from the job three years ago, after he was accused of sexually assaulting his former partner, who eventually asked that his civil lawsuit be dismissed. And his re-ascension to the post came not without its own controversy. KPBS spoke with Rodriguez-Kennedy.
Will, you won a fairly acrimonious race to head the local Democratic Party. Anonymous letters circulated calling you a Trumpian narcissist. They also focused on the now-dropped sexual assault allegations against you, and those letters talked about the allegations against your opponent, consultant Sarah Ochoa's husband. Is there lingering bad blood within the party over all of that? And if so, what do you plan to do to heal it?
Rodriguez-Kennedy: Well, I think that the fact that those were anonymous was indicative of the reality that that is a minority of the Democratic Party. There is an element who favors drama over doing the work. Luckily, my opponent and I have met, and we favor doing the work over the drama. So we're working together. There's a committee that I've appointed her co-chair of moving forward, and we're going to work together to put the party back together as a family. We have a common cause. We have a common foe, and we have a clear understanding of the stakes ahead of us. So it's actually rather easy to unite when there is a clear boss, baddie, or whatever to fight.
So amid those stakes, as you know, the Democratic Party is bleeding voters nationally. Locally, 120,000 fewer people voted for Democrats last November than four years ago. In Southeastern San Diego alone, Democrats lost 11,000 voters. Republicans gained 2,000 voters. Why do you think that happened?
Rodriguez-Kennedy: Well, it's 124,735 voters. So I've looked at the number very closely. The reason that happened is because, one, particularly in the South Bay, the Democratic Party did not run as extensive a Spanish-language program as they did in 2020 when I was chair last time. The other reason that happened is that the Democratic Party has not shown a level of focus and discipline on the issues that affect the day-to-day lives of voters.
So, for example, addressing the cost of living, the cost of housing, raising wages, things like that. Voters care most about their quality of life. They care most about whether or not they're able to put food on the table. They care most whether or not they can afford gas, groceries, things like that.
So the fact that the party has not had that level of discipline and has not acted with a sense of urgency in the 2024 election would lead to a bleed of voters that we saw in 2024. So that's one of the reasons I was elected. If you look at what I put out in terms of the campaign, we're talking about having message consistency, message discipline, but also making sure that we're talking to those voters who we left behind.
Voters not showing up is not their fault. It's our fault. We did not communicate to them on the issues that they care about, in the languages that they speak, through the media that they consume. We're going to change that in 2025 and 2026.
Aside from trying to win those voters back, what else is on your to-do list that you consider urgent?
Rodriguez-Kennedy: Well, Prop 50 is obviously top of mind because we have a special election that is coming up on Nov. 4. It is absolutely essential that we do our part as a county to take back our country. We have a significant problem at the federal level with the Trump administration instilling fear in our communities. They are affecting our economy. If you look at the unemployment and job numbers that have happened recently, you can draw a direct line into the instability in federal economic policy, whether it's the tariffs which affect our trade, which is a major part of the San Diego economy, whether it's the immigration chaos and fear that has been caused by the administration, which affects our economy and our ability on the border. The federal government has affected San Diego in a negative way. And the best way for us to do that, especially considering our economy, is to make sure that we vote yes on Prop 50.
Prop 50 being Gov. Newsom's ballot measure that redraws congressional districts to favor Democrats, and this is in response to Texas's redistricting. You're at the ground level of the Democratic Party. What's your sense about how local voters feel about Prop 50?
Rodriguez-Kennedy:
Well, we're all Californians, and I don't think we want Texans to decide the future of our country. A difference between the way the Republicans are doing and the way the Democrats are doing is that we're asking our voters for their permission. The Texan Republican legislature, they're just shoving it down the throat of Texans. The most important thing people can do to resist the Trump administration and its horrible effects in our communities and with our economy is to vote yes on Prop 50.
