After Texas redrew its congressional map to help win more seats for Republicans, California followed suit with Proposition 50 to favor Democrats. After the redistricting, Republican Darrell Issa announced his retirement, making the newly-redrawn 48th district an open seat.
Marni von Wilpert is the Democratic nominee running for Congress in CA-48. She talked to Tim Dickinson about serving in the Peace Corps, introducing gun control legislation in California, and fighting for affordable healthcare for all.
Marni von Wilpert is a Member of the San Diego City Council. She previously served in Congress as counsel on the House Education and Labor Committee. She is now running for Congress in California’s 48th district.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Tim Dickinson
Hey, this is Tim Dickinson for The Contrarian. Our guest today is Marni Von Wilpert, who is a candidate for Congress in extreme Southern California, east of San Diego. Marni, welcome to The Contrarian.
Marni von Wilpert
Thank you so much for having me today. I’m happy to be here.
Tim Dickinson
I always like to start off by having people introduce their district because this is a national audience. So tell us what makes California’s 48th great.
Marni von Wilpert
So it’s San Diego County where I grew up, my hometown, which is beautiful, and all the way up to Riverside County and this beautiful city of Palm Springs. We have Temecula, which is a wonderful wine country. We have Anza Borrego, which is one of our dark sky communities, so you can see the whole Milky Way every night. It’s just an incredibly diverse, wonderful, beautiful place to be.
Tim Dickinson
And California 48, is one of the true swing contests, right? I think I’ve looked at the partisan distribution. It’s basically 50-50. And so this is like, if Democrats are going to regain control of Congress, this is the kind of seat they absolutely must win. So can you tell us a little bit about the political texture of this race and why you think you’re the best candidate?
Marni von Wilpert
So, this district was specifically redrawn, the boundaries were redrawn for Democrats to win. You know, after Texas wanted to work with Donald Trump to gerrymander their congressional districts to try and get more Trump Republicans in Congress, California fought back. and we redrew five districts, and this is the fifth one. So we need to flip this district red to blue, and we already know that we’re going to win, because this was Daryl Issa’s old seat, a Republican who was rubber stamping everything Donald Trump ever said. He decided to retire instead of run for reelection in this new district because even he knew that Democrats are going to take the seat. But it will be a fight. Like you said, it’s about 50 50 partisan breakdown. And I’ve beaten Republicans before. I actually flipped the most conservative city council district on in San Diego from red to blue in 2020. And now I’m going to flip this district red to blue and take back Congress. You know, we need Democrats to be in control so we can stand up to Donald Trump and take our country back.
Tim Dickinson
You have a really interesting resume. Just a long, long and diverse list of public service from the Peace Corps, starting a legal clinic. Working in Washington, D.C. as a Hill staffer and Hill attorney. Can you talk a bit about your qualifications for this job?
Marni von Wilpert
Yeah. So I’ve spent my entire career in public service. Honestly, helping people is my north star. And after I graduated from college at UC Berkeley, I went and joined the Peace Corps in Sub Saharan Africa helping take care of children born with HIV whose parents had died of AIDS. And it was the PEPFAR program, one of the most important diplomatic programs the United States of America has ever embarked on. Not only is it the right thing to do to help prevent disease and the spread of viruses across the world, but I worked alongside Foreign Service, USAID, the State Department, and we were able to help make sure that the AIDS, HIV/AIDS virus start to be contained. But also the diplomacy was amazing. We had so many great relationships all throughout Africa, and I’m watching all of those crumble ever since Donald Trump and Elon Musk in the Doge department fired everyone in our foreign service. So I wanna bring that back when I get to Congress. I then became an attorney and decided to start my career as a civil rights lawyer in Mississippi. So I understood exactly what was going to happen when the Supreme Court finally crushed the very last parts of the Voting Rights Act. And we’ve seen it left and right. Minority districts have been completely crushed by the state legislatures. So I want to bring back the Voting Rights Act. I want the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to be amended, the Freedom to Vote Act. We need to make sure we protect our rights. And then I worked for President Obama as a labor attorney at the National Labor Relations Board, enforcing workers’ rights on the job, especially women’s rights to equal pay under the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. I argued cases before both Brett Kavanaugh and Merrick Garland. I thought that Brett never read the briefs, you could tell.
Tim Dickinson
That’s great.
Marni von Wilpert
But I want to bring my legal background to bear in Congress. And, you know, we need to do Supreme Court reform. We need to stand up to the Supreme Court and make sure that they are not overreaching. They need a code of ethics to make sure that their their decisions are valid and and start there. But I’m really excited to bring these skills to Congress and continue my public service and serving my country.
Tim Dickinson
And most recently, you’ve been a city councilor. Do you want to talk just a little bit about that kind of work and what that constituent service and that connection to the community, how you can bring that to Congress?
Marni von Wilpert
Yeah, so when I was working in DC, I was not going to be a good fit for the Trump administration. I was campaigning for Hillary Clinton, thought that was going to be our next step, and I moved back home to San Diego, and I first became a deputy city attorney, and I sued corporations that broke the law. I got to sue Monsanto for polluting our bay with chemicals. I got to sue the Purdue Pharmaceuticals and everyone who contributed to the opioid epidemic. And it was incredible work, but I decided to run for office and get elected to the city council because I thought, well, I can help people one case at a time, as each case and each lawsuit comes across my desk. But if I become a legislator, I can write laws to help a lot of people at once. And the first law that I wrote when I won my city council seat was about gun violence. You know, I’m a member of the Columbine generation in America. I watched the high school kids from Columbine running for their lives on the TV news when I was in high school. And so we had a mass shooting in the downtown San Diego tourist area, actually, in April of 2021 when I first got elected. And I found out the shooter bypassed background checks because he used a ghost gun. So I wrote the first law in California banning the sale of untraceable parts of weapons that were being used to build guns at home, which the police were calling ghost guns because they’re untraceable in the system. And I won when the NRA group here sued me. They’re called the San Diego County Gun Owners. They’re the local theater chapter for the NRA, and they sued me, and the federal court upheld my law. And then the Ninth Circuit did too, so then Los Angeles passed the ghost gun ban, San Francisco passed the ghost gun law, I wrote Oakland, the state of California finally took action, and so that’s what it meant to me to be a legislator. You can actually use your power in law writing to help people, and that’s what I want to do in Congress. We don’t need to be a rubber stamp for the executive branch of the Trump White House. We can assert our power as leaders in Congress and stand up to Donald Trump and take our country back.
Tim Dickinson
And so, tell me a bit about your hopes for, if you do become a member of Congress, what is your agenda? What do you think that you can do for the people of San Diego, or the greater area?
Marni von Wilpert
Yes. Well, first of all, we need to undo the horrible things that the Big Ugly Bill, as I call it, is doing to everyday Americans. You know, we’re already seeing Planned Parenthoods closing because the big ugly bill defunded them, prohibited. Planned Parenthood providers from billing services to Medicaid as simple as breast cancer exams or cervical cancer exams, and they’re shutting their doors. When the Medicaid cuts hit in January of next year under the Big Ugly Bill. It’ll kick 32,000 residents in my congressional district alone off of healthcare. And so the person who wins this congressional seat will have the power to decide who gets access to healthcare and who does not in this country. And I’m gonna fight for access to healthcare. You know, Tim, I wanna share something very personal. With you, with everyone right now, and it’s important that I share this story, but in the middle of my campaign, running for office, I went in for a routine mammogram about two months ago, thinking I would just get it out of the way for the year, and my doctor called back two weeks later and diagnosed me with early stage breast cancer two months ago. And I went through surgery 3 weeks ago, it was very successful, the cancer had not spread, my lymph nodes are clear, so I’m in the clear, I don’t need to do chemo, I’m very grateful. And the reason that I’m sharing my story is because early diagnosis do save lives for women. So please do, get your, get your mammograms done. But Tim, as I was sitting in the doctor’s offices and waiting for test results. I kept thinking how lucky I was that I could afford my mammogram, my biopsies, and my surgery without ever wondering if it was going to bankrupt me just to save my life. But there are millions of Americans who are not gonna have that same security because of what Donald Trump’s administration is doing to health care in this country. So it’s another reason that I am running to fight back to restore affordable healthcare. Instead of giving tax breaks to the wealthy, how about everyone in this country gets to afford healthcare? We need to address the cost of living, too. I met with teachers who want to stay in public schools, but they can’t afford to live in Southern California. So I started the first teacher down payment assistance fund with private dollars, with developer money, and it worked. I’m getting teachers to stay, buy homes in Southern California, and teach in our classrooms. We need to end this reckless war in Iran, which is causing prices to go up. And guess what? My opponent, Jim Desmond, has been endorsed by Donald Trump. He is a MAGA Republican. And when gas prices spiked in California because of this reckless war in Iran, Jim Desmond told the people of this district, hey, no pain, no gain, right? wow, is that who you want representing you? When you go to them with a problem, he says, no pain, no gain, whereas I’m going to stand up, fight against Donald Trump, and take our nation back.
Tim Dickinson
Well, let me back up and say, first, thank you for your candor and telling your story, and I’m so happy that your health prognosis is so great.
Marni von Wilpert
Thank you.
Tim Dickinson
And your point about the affordability crisis and that leading directly into healthcare is really well spoken and well taken. Jim Desmond is a county councillor or county board member, I understand.
Marni von Wilpert
County Supervisor, yes..
Tim Dickinson
Supervisor. I’m sure he’s pretty well known in the district, and so can you talk a little bit about the contrast between you? I mean, you’ve started to, but contrast yourself to him and his priorities, and what you think, you know, would mean for the district if he’s elected.
Marni von Wilpert
So, Darrell Issa retired, decided to retire at the very last minute before the filing deadline, literally hours before we had to file to run for office for the seat. And he hand selected Jim Desmond to take his place and he endorsed him immediately. And then Donald Trump endorsed Jim Desmond, my opponent, and he welcomed it. And just this last week, Speaker Mike Johnson flew across the country to have a fundraiser with my Republican opponent on a mega yacht in the San Diego Bay, because nothing cost of living like fundraisers on a mega yach So, he is a hardcore MAGA Republican, and if Jim Desmond wins this seat, he will continue to be a rubber stamp for the Trump administration. That’s why it’s so critical that we’ve been fighting back so hard. You know, even in the primary, which I won two months ago. We knocked on 26,000 doors with my field operation team. We made 17,000 phone calls to voters. Because we know every vote’s gonna count in this race, and I’d love everyone’s help. You know, I was just actually speaking with the local Sierra Club of Riverside County yesterday, and a voter there said, Marni, look what I got in my mail. It was a handwritten postcard. from a volunteer in San Francisco who said, if you want to take back Congress, vote for Marni Von Wilpert. I didn’t even know that kind people are volunteering to write postcards for me in San Francisco, but it already made a difference! It got a voter! So believe me, everything everyone can do, texting, phone calling, door knocking, will help, and I’d love to have your help on this race.
Tim Dickinson
Well, Marni, it’s been wonderful meeting you, and I appreciate your enthusiasm, your energy, the vision that you have. Are there other thoughts that you want to share with our audience, our listeners, our viewers, to help them get a better sense of you or the race?
Marni von Wilpert
Yes, I am so excited to be stepping up to serve our country on the national level, and I am running for office because I believe that we need to have a democracy where everyone can afford access to healthcare and a roof over their head and good education and good jobs. I am running because I believe we must take care of our planet for the next generation. And I’m running because I believe that no matter who you are, who you love, where you’re from, what country you come from, what religion you believe in, you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in our country, and you deserve a government that promotes that.
Tim Dickinson
While I have you, San Diego, the Otay Mesa ICE facility has been a flashpoint. I wonder if you have, you know, given the news this week and last week of ICE killings, if you have something to say about the role of Congress in determining a saner immigration and enforcement policy.
Marni von Wilpert
I’m heartbroken by the two deaths of the fathers who were killed in Texas and in Maine by ICE. You know, here in the city of San Diego, I’m the chair of the Public Safety Committee, and we train our police officers not to shoot into moving vehicles. ICE is a completely lawless and reckless agency, and it needs to stop. And I’m not waiting till I get to Congress. I actually led the vote of the city of San Diego to join Minneapolis as a large sister city in suing ICE to stop them from their lawless immigration raids. I started a petition in a town next door called Escondido, who’s part of my congressional district. 3,000 residents marched to City Hall asking them to stop using ICE at their firing ranges. We shouldn’t be cooperating with immigration enforcement in California. But what we can do is actually have a functioning immigration system. I grew up on a border town. I know we can have a strong, secure border that prevents Drugs and guns and bad actors from coming through but promotes. Good immigration, a binational economy, you know, nurses, doctors, family members coming across. We also need to have a path to citizenship. We need to make sure people like the DACA students, the dreamers who’ve done nothing other than go to college, get jobs, have families, they need a path to citizenship in this country. And that’s what we should be focusing on, not these lawless raids that ICE is doing.
Tim Dickinson
Well, thank you so much for your time today. I wish you luck in your race and hopefully we’ll get to see you on The Contrarian again.
Marni von Wilpert
Yes, thank you. I love your podcast. I’m a huge fan. I’m honored.
Tim Dickinson
Thanks so much.
