Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee 2024 Endorsements

The Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee (SBWPC) held its annual January Endorsement meeting to review and qualify the candidates for the 2024 election season they are endorsing. 

For Santa Barbara County District 1 Supervisor, the vote yielded a “no endorsement” of any candidate. 

This is an important clarification for voters, as written campaign materials for Roy Lee are stating, “In the recent endorsement process by the Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee, a notable decision was made: for the first time, incumbent Supervisor Das Williams did not receive their endorsement. This decision is more than just a moment in a campaign; it’s a clear indication that the winds of change are blowing through our community.” What Lee’s campaign fails to mention is that Lee was not endorsed by SBWPC either.

In our in-person conversation Tuesday, January 16, SBWPC President Paula Lopez explained the process and endorsements for 2024: 

“We put out a call to all of the candidates for an opportunity to be endorsed if they choose to, some declined. After doing a questionnaire, we determine if interested candidates qualify for an interview. The main determining factors are if they meet our principles, and many are knocked out because of that; for example, if they are not pro-choice, and do not support LGBTQ rights. If they qualify, they have an interview with our CAT [Candidate Assessment Team] of three members, one of whom is a board member. For this First District race, all three CAT members are also Board members. We have a team for each electoral race. This year we have five races, so five CAT teams. The CAT conducts interviews, writes a report and makes a recommendation to the Board. At our January 10 endorsement meeting, all the candidates, their representatives and their supporters have a chance to speak. We had Gregg Hart speaking to us from Sacramento, Salud Carbajal speaking to us from Washington, D.C., they made a great effort to speak on their own behalf. After that our Board goes into closed session with the CAT teams to go over the reports and ask questions. Then we conduct a blind vote. In order to receive our endorsement, the candidates must have a two-thirds majority vote. At that meeting we had 15 voting members. In all the races but one there was a clear winner. In the First SBC District neither of the two candidates, [Das Williams and Roy Lee], received the two-thirds majority for endorsement. We notified them that evening. The SBWPC vote holds throughout the election. We wholeheartedly recommend the candidates we endorse, and hope the electorate takes that into consideration when they go to the ballot box. The candidates had a deep knowledge of the issues and action plans for the future.”

Lopez emphasized that the SBWPC is a non-partisan feminist organization that takes their endorsements very seriously and maintains their credibility when making an endorsement. She has served on the SBWPC for eight years and as president for two years. The organization has workshops for women considering to be in office and other events during the year.

411: https://sbwpc.org