It’s no longer just “Marni von Wilpert for Congress.” After emerging from a crowded primary field to make the general election, the San Diego councilwoman retooled her campaign slogan to reflect the importance of the newly minted 48th District in the Democrats’ plans to flip the House of Representatives.
Now, it’s “Marni von Wilpert: Take Back Congress” as she heads for the Nov. 3 general election.
The candidate stood outside San Diego County Democratic party headquarters on Thursday, touting her victory and slamming her opponent, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, on two fronts – for accepting President Donald Trump’s complete endorsement and being tied to local Republican Carl DeMaio.
She met with the media on the same day that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added her to its “Red to Blue” program, which will bolster her campaign with organizational and fundraising support. Months ago, the DCCC targeted CA-48, naming it among “Districts in Play” in 2026.
“Voters are going to have a choice coming up here in November, and it’s going to be stark,” von Wilpert said. “We either continue to choose the chaos and the corruption in Washington, D.C., or we can choose a new path forward.”
Von Wilpert said she was excited after a “decisive” win on Tuesday, going so far as to say she was “very very pleasantly surprised” by the results.
Democrats quickly coalesced around von Wilpert after a heated primary campaign with multiple left-leaning candidates seeking the seat that Rep. Darrell Issa will give up after voters embraced Proposition 50 and its redrawn district maps.
While the new look 48th District – which now includes Palm Springs, plus a swath of more conservative suburban and rural communities in San Diego and Riverside counties – offers a chance for Democrats to improve on past returns, it by no means guarantees a win.
At the same time, without flipping the district from red to blue, it’s unlikely that Democrats will be able to retake the House.
“Since the Voting Rights Act has been crushed by the US Supreme Court, that makes this congressional race here in 48 one of the most important pick-up opportunities we ever have had in the nation,” von Wilpert said. “I do feel the weight of that.”
To do that, she promised a traditional door-to-door campaign. In the primary, she said her team knocked on 26,000 doors. She also said taking her District 5 seat on the city council, a spot once held by DeMaio, shows she has history turning another district from red to blue.
Should she succeed in doing so again, she promised to be a “fighter” in D.C.
“I’ve met with thousands of people in the last five, six, seven months of this campaign, all of whom told me that Donald Trump’s chaos has affected them in different ways,” von Wilpert said.
Her platform emphasizes lowering the cost of living, restoring healthcare and food benefits, fighting for civil rights and stopping Trump. She cited ICE’s “lawlessness” and the loss of “taxpayer money abroad to another war in the Middle East” among her criticisms of the president.
Von Wilpert beat out multiple Democrat opponents, securing 20% of the vote, more than double the ballots cast for the well-funded Ammar Campa-Najjar. Desmond led the field with 41.3% of the vote – which continues to be counted – and far outpaced the other Republican in the race, Kevin P. O’Neil.
