FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 7/1/21
CONTACT: [email protected], (760) 814-7260
ENCINITAS, CA — Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear, a longtime community champion and environmental advocate, has demonstrated strong fundraising capacity out the gate, raising an impressive $238,000 in the first reporting period of the 2022 campaign cycle.
After announcing her campaign for SD 36 less than four months ago, Blakespear has already received 700 contributions from over 600 individuals all across California and beyond, more than half of which were in amounts of $100 or less. More than 75% of the donations are from within the senate district. Her early fundraising success demonstrates her viability as a candidate, and cements her as the frontrunner for this contest.
“Catherine Blakespear has a terrific base of support from all over Southern California,” said Blakespear’s consultant, Katie Merrill. “Her long record of bringing people together, building consensus and delivering results as mayor strongly resonates with the electorate, and that shows up in her fundraising. That she’s been able to raise $238,000 so quickly — especially among small donors — proves she is the best candidate to win this race.”
“I’m so incredibly grateful to all of our supporters,” Blakespear said. “Their confidence in our campaign will allow us to make early investments that will pay off in 2022.”
Blakespear is a fourth-generation Encinitan whose great-grandparents put roots down in the area nearly 100 years ago. She graduated from Torrey Pines High School, where she was a three-time MVP of her varsity basketball team. After earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern and her J.D. from the University of Utah, she returned to Encinitas and was elected to the City Council in 2014. She was elected Mayor in 2016, and re-elected in 2018 and again in 2020, winning by double digit margins in all three citywide races. In December of last year, she was unanimously chosen in a bipartisan vote to be the Chair of SANDAG, San Diego County’s transportation agency.
State Senate District 36 includes North San Diego County and South Orange County, and is anchored by Camp Pendleton in the center of the district. District 36 was the closest State Senate election in California won by a Republican in 2018, making it the top target for Senate Democrats in 2022.
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