Watch the D53 Congressional Debate Video When You Have Time

Indivisible chapters in San Diego worked hard over the past few months to put together a debate, hoping to educate voters about the major candidates seeking to replace Rep. Susan Davis in Congressional District 53.

I was and am active with Indivisible San Diego Persist, a chapter created by the merger of the Downtown and Central groups. Also participating organizing the event were the Hillcrest Indivisible and Indivisible CBFD groups.

There were several times during the course of setting up the forum where it looked like we wouldn't pull it off. One venue said no after saying yes, because the event was "political." Costs turned out to be higher than anticipated; we bit the bullet and passed the hat among ourselves, while launching an online fundraiser.

On Sunday, January 12, several hundred people came to the La Mesa Community Center to see and hear candidates Jose Caballero, Janessa Goldbeck, Sarah Jacobs, Georgette Gomez, and Joaquin Vazquez.

Chris Jennewein, Editor and Publisher of Times of San Diego served as moderator.

These five candidates out of the 14 who have declared and qualified for the primary were chosen based on an assessment that included alignment with progressive values, visibility in the community, and campaign fundraising.

Early on there was agreement that the size of the candidate pool and the lack of meaningful discourse in the Democratic presidential debates meant we needed to limit the number of positions on the stage. As we approached potential moderators they made it clear that too many people on the stage was a non-starter.

Those candidates who weren't invited to sit on stage were invited to come to meet and greet attendees at an end of event social hour. Not everybody was happy with than arrangement. We spent a lot of time trying to explain our decision and, this too, became a conflict that threatened to derail the event.

The evening went well, and we're proud of how it worked.

Here's my coverage of the 53rd District Congressional race with mini-profiles of all the candidates.

Times of San Diego reporter Ken Stone covered the event, along with several TV stations. Union-Tribune political columnist Michael Smolens was in the audience taking notes, so I expect we'll see a mention or two of the debate in the near future.

The video below is nearly two hours long. At a minimum, try to watch everybody's two minute opening statements if you plan to vote in Congressional District 53.

https://youtu.be/A8SqpGjI204

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Lead photo by Doug Porter