Marni von Wilpert launches CA-48 campaign against Republican Jim Desmond
San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert kicked off her general election campaign for California's 48th Congressional District on Thursday with a press conference at the San Diego County Democratic Party headquarters in Kearny Mesa.
Von Wilpert will be running against County Supervisor Jim Desmond after the two received the most votes in the June primary. Desmond had 41.4% of the votes counted as of 4 p.m. Thursday, and von Wilpert had 19.5%.
“I have pledged the entire time I’ve been on this campaign trail to be the fighter we need in Congress to stand up to Donald Trump and end the chaos and corruption that’s affecting everyone’s lives,” von Wilpert said.
She’s aiming to portray Desmond as a Trump-aligned extremist in the general election, but that could prove difficult to pull off. Desmond has the President’s endorsement, but he also has a long history in local politics.
Now that he's advanced to the general, he's positioning himself as a moderate focused on affordability and i…