Santa Barbara County Election Insights
I hope that your new year has started well. We have the opportunity to make positive changes in 2024. It is “election season” in Santa Barbara County, with the primary election on 5 March 2024. Important decisions are laid before us. Here, I offer some references and insights from my experience for your consideration as you deliberate how to vote.
Since I ran for US Congress in 2022, my husband, Michael English, and I have been actively engaged in local, statewide, and nationwide efforts to educate, inform, and restore integrity to our elections. That is a topic for another message (see Election Integrity), but suffice it to say that California ranks #1 in election fraud in the country, and the laws passed by the Democrat supermajority in the legislature support the fraud. Things like early voting, mail-in voting, and vote counting for weeks after the election enable fraud. The best way to ensure your vote is counted accurately is to vote in person on election day using the paper ballots at your polling location, which will be counted that evening after the polls close. You are not required to surrender your mail-in ballot to vote on the election-day ballot at the precinct. Hold on to your mail-in ballot. If the poll workers claim you already voted, show them the mail-in ballot as proof that you have not voted. Then, record this incident and report it to the sheriff as identity theft.
Many of you asked why I ran for US Congress independent of a political party. I always answered that question, whether it was asked in public or private, as follows: though I registered as a Republican when I turned 18 during the Reagan era, I have been politically independent most of my life. I made this decision when I realized the leadership of the Republican party espoused certain principles but acted contrary to those principles. I have lived in five states across the country and spent most of my career in the Washington DC area. I have witnessed the corruption of the two major political parties of the USA at the national, state, and local levels. Santa Barbara County is no exception.
The “two-party system” in the USA gives the illusion of choice when, in fact, there is a “UniParty,” meaning establishment Democrats and Republicans who have a power-sharing agreement. They only want people on the ballot that they can control and manipulate. They unite to take down anyone who will not bow to the wishes of “The Party” and will instead put America and US citizens first. At the national level, consider how the Republican party initially treated outsider Donald Trump, whom people across the political spectrum liked before he ran for president, or how the Democratic Party has treated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who comes from a proud Democratic Party legacy but dares to think for himself. Both of these men challenge the long-established power base of the UniParty establishment and the unconstitutional fourth branch of government known as the Deep State. This is one reason why they are constantly under attack.
As someone who ran for Federal office as an independent candidate in Santa Barbara County, I can attest that we have a UniParty. Professor David Clements, who recently released the documentary “Let My People Go,” stated at the Lindell Election Summit last August, “The UniParty works together to take out any legitimate candidates in the primaries.” I spoke with him after the event and told him I was so glad he publicly stated that fact, for that was my experience. He shared that he ran for office a few years prior, and that was his experience. I have met a few dozen people who, like David and I, never aspired to run for political office, but we all felt called to do so because we could not stand by and watch our country fall. Each of us stepped into the political arena to uphold the US Constitution, which has stood the test of time, and preserve the liberty, which came at such a high cost, for future generations, and were all attacked by the GOP. As a Constitutionalist, it may surprise you that the political party that most vehemently attacked me, lied and slandered me, and worked to sabotage my campaign was the GOP.
When I pulled papers to run as an independent for US Congress in January 2022, about four and a half months before the June primary election, the GOP had no candidate for US Congress, though they had over a year and a half to recruit one. I was the first person to challenge the incumbent, Salud Carbajal. The SB GOP Central Committee (CC) leadership contacted me repeatedly, telling me to drop out of the race. I asked why they would want me to drop out when they had no candidate. As a Constitutionalist, I earned the support of Republicans, independents, and JFK Democrats, which was the pathway to victory. They made it clear they did not want me in the race. In the third call I received from the chairperson, which my husband and daughter listened to on speakerphone, she told me that if I did not drop out of the race, she would find someone to run against me who they could endorse so that I would not make it through the primary election. Why was the SB GOP CC chairperson focused on taking me out of the election rather than unseating the Democrat incumbent?
I refused to take orders from these people and publicly declared my candidacy for US Congress on 10 March 2022, the day before the filing deadline. That upset the SB GOP CC leadership, who immediately worked to recruit someone to run as a Republican for US Congress so that they could endorse him and convince enough Republicans to vote the Party slate so that I would not make it through the primary election to the general election. Republicans who supported my candidacy for US Congress were contacted by the SB GOP CC leadership and asked to help them find a candidate to run against me and then to gather signatures before the 11 March deadline to get him on the ballot. These Republicans were concerned that the SB GOP CC leadership would do this, for they believed I was a great candidate and had the best chance of winning. The candidate the GOP ultimately recruited and endorsed did not establish a campaign committee with the FEC or create a campaign website until May—after Andy Caldwell called this out on his radio show, said he was a "candidate in name only," and told people to vote for me.
The SB GOP CC leadership’s focus was not on unseating the radical left progressive incumbent but on taking a Constitutionalist with strong credentials and a winning strategy out of the congressional race. Their actions only served to give the Democrat incumbent another two years in Congress, and they received blowback from their constituents who recognized what they did. This same SB GOP CC leadership continues to lie to cover their tracks and deceive their voter base.
This compelled me to share my experience with you. I share this not to seek your pity—trust me, I faced far worse during my 25+ year career in the “big leagues” in Washington DC—but to convey the fact that the GOP leadership is not acting in your best interest; they are acting to serve their personal interests and agendas. Their actions have served to keep radical left progressives in office who do not support the US Constitution and individual liberty, something that became all the more apparent during the COVID tyranny. They have stated in no uncertain terms that they will continue to employ these tactics against me and anyone else who does not do their bidding. Sadly, my experience is not unique; the GOP has sabotaged America First candidates across California and the USA. What purpose does it serve for them to do this?
One thing I heard repeatedly while on the congressional campaign trail was Republicans lamenting that they felt like they were voting for a lost cause and that money given to the GOP was wasted. How can you change this? You can do so by demanding honesty and transparency and voting for new party leadership.
In a desperate attempt to hold on to power after repeatedly failing their base, the SB GOP CC leadership has gone so far as to endorse themselves for office and send out voter slates encouraging you to vote for them to remain in office.
Thankfully, they are being challenged by people who genuinely uphold Republican values and want to turn things around; some are incumbents, while others never considered running for party office before but feel compelled to do so now because of their great concern for our country and the recognition that the GOP has been corrupted. They want to reform their party and save the country. If you are a registered Republican, you should seriously consider these candidates for SB GOP CC.
These individuals have created a coalition called Unite To Win 805. You can learn more about the candidates at www.unite2win805.org. I know the individuals listed and believe they have the best interests of the USA and We The People in mind. For District 3, I would add the following people whom I know personally: Kathleen Grace-Velazquez and SB GOP CC incumbents Caroline Abate and Carol Readhed, who supported my 2022 congressional campaign and refused to endorse the GOP candidate recruited by the corrupt SB GOP CC leadership to take me out of the race.
Even if you are a political independent as I am, you may consider registering Republican before the 20 February 2024 deadline so that you can vote in the Republican party primary and support candidates who share your values to help break the UniParty stranglehold on Santa Barbara County. You can register to vote or change your voter registration here: www.countyofsb.org/1139/Register-to-Vote.
The USA’s founders were concerned about political parties with good reason. Our first president, George Washington, warned that the rise of political parties would eventually subvert the power of We The People, the sovereign in the USA. We have moved from a system where candidates had to stand on their own merits and principles to win the trust of voters to get elected to the point where most people don’t bother to do any research and just vote according to the slate given to them by their registered political party. This is very dangerous for the people creating those slates may not have your best interest at heart, but are counting on you not to question them and just do as you are told. If we are not engaged and do not do our homework to find the truth, we risk being manipulated like Vladimir Lenin’s “useful idiots.” One reason the USA is in this sad state is because We The People have not taken seriously the responsibility to be informed voters and engage in the civic process. We need to change that if we are going to restore our constitutional republic.
The USA is the home of the free because of the brave. We must all courageously stand for our principles and strongly support those running for elected office who share our values, at the local, state, and national levels. As has been said, local action equals national impact. Working together, we can get the USA back on the right track and preserve our constitutional republic for future generations.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Michele
