Kyle Krahel-Frolander says he’s “laser-focused” on electing fellow Democrat Paloma Aguirre to the county Board of Supervisors over GOP rival John McCann.
Kyle Krahel-Frolander announcing leave of absence as chair of local Democratic Party. (PDF)Will Rodriguez-Kennedy told Times of San Diego: “Everyone’s top priority must be the election of [Imperial Beach] Mayor Paloma Aguirre.”
And Sara Ochoa, another party leader, told me she’s “working to support [Aguirre’s] victory every day.”
Behind the scenes, however, all three are eyeing other offices. And a fourth might be Ross Pike, the new acting chair.
Krahel-Frolander of Oceanside has taken a leave of absence as chairman of the San Diego County Democratic Party to “focus on some important personal matters,” he said via email Wednesday to Central Committee members, noting that Chair Pro Tem Pike would be acting chair until July 31 at the latest.
What personal matters? That would be seeking North County’s District 5 seat on the Board of Supervisors, according to Lori Saldaña, the former Assembly member.
Saldaña, a member of the local Democrats’ Central Committee, says she learned of Krahel-Frolander’s plans from a fellow state party delegate “who asked for secrecy” a few days before last weekend’s Democratic convention in Anaheim.
Then Rodriguez-Kennedy told her the same at the convention, she said.
Rodriguez-Kennedy, who stepped down as party chair in May 2022 to fight sexual assault allegations, is running to regain that party leadership post, Saldaña says.
How does she know? Rodriguez-Kennedy reputedly told her so.
Times of San Diego interview with Lori Saldaña on June 2, 2025. (PDF)“Will is seeking support from me and others to become the next chair, once Kyle formally announces he is running for supervisor,” Saldaña said.
For his part, Rodriguez-Kennedy told me:
“Of course, if [the chairmanship] opens up, I would consider running for it. … With my proven record as the chair who led the county party to flip the county blue for the first time in history, and considering I am a mixed-race member of the Latino, LGBTQ+ and Veteran communities which are currently being targeted by the current administration, it makes sense that if an opening were to occur that I might be considered by the majority as a natural fit for the position.”
And Ochoa, party vice chair for the South Area, said Sunday: “After we elect [Aguirre], I will enthusiastically discuss my proposals, qualifications and vision for the county party.”
On Saturday, Ochoa and Rodriguez-Kennedy were invited to meet with Saldaña and several other party leaders at Elijah’s Restaurant in Kearny Mesa.
Sitting on the patio, Saldaña and three cohorts wanted to pin down Ochoa and Rodriquez-Kennedy on how the chair election would be run.
“There’s no doubt that there’s going to be an election,” Saldaña told me in a phone interview. “It’s just a question of timing.”
Saldaña is concerned about what she calls “secrecy” and “clandestine behind-the-scenes” activity of the party’s executive board.
“Will thinks he has the votes sufficient to become the next chair,” she said. “And he didn’t really answer the questions about these issues, like the lack of transparency.”
I sent queries to Rodriguez-Kennedy, a Central Committee member as past chair. and Ochoa about a chair election, and neither addressed them directly.
Will Rodriguez-Kennedy statements to Times of San Diego. (PDF)Krahel-Frolander and acting chair Pike didn’t respond to my requests for comment. Neither would other party leaders.
(“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Krahel-Frolander told Axios San Diego’s Andrew Keatts in a “scoop” posted Thursday.)
Saldaña — who for several years left the Democratic Party and fell short in bids for Congress, San Diego mayor and county supervisor — told me she neither supports nor opposes Rodriguez-Kennedy or any other possible chair candidate.
“I need more information about all of them,” she said.
Toward that end, she hopes the local party’s Council of Clubs will follow through on plans for a candidates forum.
But Saldaña is skeptical of Ochoa’s hopes for a July 1 meeting on the party chair by the San Diego Building & Construction Trades Council.
“Which is kind of like: Why would the Building Trades do a forum — another organization’s leadership?” Saldaña said. “We wouldn’t do a forum on their leadership.”
Saldaña notes that Becca Taylor, the late party chair killed in a traffic crash last July, rose to that post without a contested election after spending eight months as acting chair. (Taylor ran unopposed.)
A longtime party insider is dead set against Rodriguez-Kennedy resuming his chair role.
The insider, who asked not to be named, said they “could go on and on” about Rodriguez-Kennedy’s treatment of fellow Democrats and ethics complaints involving his associates.
“William figured out the way to raise up his profile within the party was to attack people that he could,” the insider told me.
Rodriguez-Kennedy often says he’s been cleared of all charges, including a lawsuit being dropped by former boyfriend Oscar Rendon.
“After being exonerated from a false accusation spread as an act of political violence, I have had the privilege of serving my community in numerous roles from fighting federal agencies to get our veterans and military service members and families the benefits they deserve to my work protecting the merit-based system in the San Diego County Government as the president of the Civil Service Commission,” said Rodriguez-Kennedy, who now works for Rep. Scott Peters.
Defending Rodriguez-Kennedy is another member of the gay community — Ryan Trabuco, president of San Diego Democrats for Equality and also a Central Committee member.
Trabuco told me last Monday: “One thing that’s been clear to me for the better part of the last year is how many Democratic club leaders, activists, donors, electeds and Central Committee members would welcome Will coming back as chair.
“I know folks approached him after the elections in November to gauge whether he was interested in coming back to lead the party.”
He added via email: “Given his record of electoral success when he was chair, his record of service as a Marine Corps veteran and the fact that he’s been very publicly exonerated from the bullshit that he went through, I suspect that Will would very easily win re-election as chair of the party.”
Acting party chair Ross Pike’s June 5, 2025, email to county Democratic Party Central Committee (PDF)But Pike wrote the Central Committee a 650-word note about his becoming acting chair — summarizing his political biography (going back to age 18 when he was elected Newaygo County Democratic Party chair).
It sounded as if he were a chair candidate too.
Pike’s email then turned to the District 1 supervisor election July 1 involving McCann, the Chula Vista mayor.
“As acting chair, my main focus is clear: we must elect Paloma Aguirre to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors,” Pike said. “This race is critical. … Paloma is a strong, values-driven leader, and she’s exactly who we need representing us at the county level.”
Saldaña would be an ideal candidate for party chair, said the party insider.
But Saldaña, wary of becoming a lightning rod for old critics, will take a pass.
“I’m not happy with the candidates that we have available to us at this point,” Saldaña said. “My concern is that I still didn’t see or hear the type of vision and leadership going forward that this party needs to overcome the Trump agenda.”
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