A Democrat competing in one of California’s closely watched congressional battlegrounds is set to host a campaign fundraising event at a nightclub-style venue whose event listings have included sexually suggestive titles, including one billed as “F****r Me Friday.”
Marni von Wilpert, the Democratic nominee for California’s 48th Congressional District, is scheduled to meet supporters and donors next Thursday at Gossip Grill, a venue that promotes itself as “San Diego’s best queer bar” and features cheekily named cocktails such as “Tease-quila Sunrise” and “Mount My Melons.”
Admission to the political fundraiser begins at $50 for students, while general tickets are priced at $100.
The bar’s public events calendar also lists themed programming including “Girls, Gays & Theys Sunday,” recurring drag king and drag queen performances, and a burlesque event promoted under the name “Top Shelf Tease.”
Christian Martinez, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, criticized the choice of venue in a statement to the Daily Mail, saying, “Out of touch Marni von Wilpert found the perfect headquarters for her radical campaign.”
Martinez went on to argue that “that dangerous agenda belongs in a nightclub, not Congress,” while accusing von Wilpert of having “put sexual content in front of young children” during her tenure on the San Diego City Council.
Von Wilpert, an LGBTQ+ officeholder who publicly came out as bisexual in 2023, has represented constituents on the San Diego City Council since 2020.
During her time in local office, she has supported the rollout of pride displays throughout San Diego’s 36 public library branches. The city’s libraries have also promoted “Drag Queen Storytime” programming described as suitable for children as young as three.
Congressional candidate Marni von Wilpert marches at San Diego Pride last month
Gossip Grill, where von Wilpert will greet donors, calls itself ‘San Diego’s best queer bar’
The cocktail menu at the Gossip Grill boasts a slew of sexually themed drinks
Guests who attend the fundraiser can sip on cocktails including ‘Tease-quila Sunrise’
Von Wilpert is backed by Equality California, which bills itself as the country’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights group and has become a formidable lobbying force in Sacramento. Its political arm is co-hosting Thursday’s fundraiser.
She faces Republican Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor, in November’s neck-and-neck race. A poll published in the last week of July put the two candidates in a statistical tie.
Both campaigns have been contacted for comment.
California’s 48th District seat opened up when GOP congressman Darrell Issa announced his retirement, turning a reliably Republican district into a battleground.
The seat is rated D+2 by the Cook Political Report, meaning it has leaned slightly more Democratic than the country as a whole in recent presidential elections. Cook moved the race from ‘Toss-Up’ to ‘Lean Democrat’ in March, a week after the primary filing deadline.
It was also one of five redrawn by the passage of the Proposition 50 ballot measure last November, which was backed by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The move was aimed at giving Democrats an extra five congressional seats in the Golden State in midterms and in 2028.
Supervisor Jim Desmond is the GOP nominee facing von Wilpert
Newsom came up with Proposition 50, the ‘Election Rigging Response Act,’ after the Texas GOP approved a plan to redistrict the Lone Star State to give Republicans a leg up in retaining the House of Representatives in 2026.
Proposition 50 took the power of redrawing California’s map away from the bipartisan California Citizens Redistricting Commission until 2030 and returned it to the state legislature, which is controlled by the Democrats.
If Republicans lose California’s 48th, it will further jeopardize any chance the party has to hold the House.
The current makeup of the chamber is 218 Republicans to 212 Democrats, with four vacancies.
The lone Independent in the House is Kevin Kiley, a former Republican also of California, whose seat was also redrawn after the passage of Prop 50.
