Gonzalez-Fletchers take aim at Sidiqa Hooker

On May 9 Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher accused Carl DeMaio of plotting to trick black and brown voters into voting for a black candidate for fourth district county supervisor on June 7, instead of her incumbent husband Nathan Fletcher.

She tweeted, “Carl DeMaio is sending mail out touting a Black woman in the race for Supervisor against @nathanfletcher. The piece doesn’t tell you she’s a Republican. It’s written to make you believe she’s a Democrat.” She continued, “It’s local politics at its ugliest & relies on the idea that Black & Brown voters are stupid. We aren’t.”

Gonzalez-Fletcher posted a picture of DeMaio’s mailer, which reads, “Democrats support Sidiqa Hooker for San Diego County Supervisor.” And she posted a picture of Hooker posing in front of a sign that read, “Turning Point USA,” which is a conservative student organization. On May 13 Gonzalez-Fletcher tweeted, “Bottom line, she’s a beautiful conservative Black woman who Carl thinks Dems will just vote for.”

DeMaio accused Gonzalez-Fletcher of hypocrisy and tweeted a meme contrasting her statement, “Diversity in all form is necessary,” with her statement, “DeMaio is sending mail out touting a Black woman,” with the meme adding “against my white husband” to her statement. During an interview of Sidiqa Hooker and Amy Reichert (the DeMaio-endorsed Republican in the race) on The DeMaio Report, he admitted he has an agenda to defeat Nathan Fletcher and created the website “Defeat Nathan Fletcher” for that purpose.

He said, “Fletcher has been terrible on the county Board of Supervisors. He’s been arrogant. He’s been petulant. He’s been nasty. He ordered the lockdowns. He was gleeful about going after gun stores and churches. He called people who supported the recall ‘Nazis’ and ‘white supremacists’…Our polling shows not even Democrats like this guy…but there’s also Sidiqa Hooker, who grew up in City Heights, an African American millennial. I wanted to make sure Democrats know that you have an alternative to Nathan Fletcher.”

Hooker, who works as a diversity and inclusion coordinator for LinkedIn, said, “Everyday people on the street…just want to see a true citizen in office, not a career politician, not someone who has no ties to the community, no emotional sentiment.”

She tells me she is a Democrat who wants to “bridge the gap” between Democrats and Republicans. “Both parties value entrepreneurship, women-owned businesses…the importance of family…the love of God and going to church…the need for everyone to have equal access to opportunity.” She adds, “I will never support the division. We've come too far as a country, and it feels as if we are moving backward.”

The San Diego Union-Tribune endorsed Fletcher, citing his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and on climate change. “Political party doesn’t factor into our recommendations…Fletcher took one of the main roles in detailing how the county was handling its public health responsibilities … emphasizing vaccinations, outreach to underserved communities and cautious behavior in public settings.”

DeMaio responded on Twitter, “Just cancel your subscription. After Nathan Fletcher falsely and shamefully labeled his critics ‘neo-Nazis and racists’ the U-T has the audacity to say Fletcher has been ‘unfazed by personal attacks and name-calling he faced.’”

San Diego County’s fourth supervisor district runs from the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego south through Bay Park, Linda Vista, Mission Valley, and Hillcrest; then east through North Park, City Heights, College Area, and Southeast San Diego; then farther east through the towns of Lemon Grove, La Mesa, Spring Valley, and Rancho San Diego.