Orange County Deputy District Attorney Kelly Ernby, who ran for state Assembly in 2020 and had become a leader with the Republican Party of Orange County, has died suddenly, a week after telling friends she was very sick with COVID-19. She was 46 years old.
“I lost a dear friend to Covid complications,” Ben Chapman, chair of the Greater Costa Mesa Republicans, tweeted Monday. “You’ve been nothing but an inspiration to many of us here in Orange County.”
Condolences were pouring in online Monday for Ernby, who was a Huntington Beach resident and presumed 2022 candidate for Assembly.
“Thanks for always standing up for victims of crime and fighting the good fight balancing the scales of justice and for always making our communities and public safety a priority,” tweeted Patricia Wenskunas, founder of Crime Survivors Inc.
Ernby was the daughter of two Navy veterans and the sister to a Marine. She graduated from Bonita Vista High in Chula Vista in 1993, earned her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from UC Santa Barbara, her law degree from the University of San Diego and her masters in public administration from USC.
Ernby had 19 years of legal experience, including more than a decade as an Orange County deputy DA where she worked primarily on environmental law and consumer protection cases. She also served on the Orange County Environmental Law Enforcement Task Force, the southern section of the California Consumer Protection Council and the California Military Consumer Protection Task Force.
Before joining the DA’s office, she worked for a private Orange County firm handling civil business litigation for nine years.
“It was an absolute privilege to fight the good fight alongside Kelly,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer posted to social media Monday. “Her passion and her shining light will be forever missed.”
Ernby was a political newcomer when she ran for the 74th Assembly District seat in 2020. She campaigned on plans to enhance border security, enact “tough love” policies for homeless people, promote environmental protections with proven results and oppose all new taxes, calling herself a “pro-business, pro-taxpayer, political outsider” who wanted to “bring back conservative values in California.” She also spoke publicly against government mandates requiring people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Kelly and I spent a lot of time together on the campaign trail in 2020,” tweeted Brian Burley, a Republican who ran for Congress last cycle. “She was one of the few people in politics that always came across as real, authentic, caring and passionate.”
Ernby’s grassroots campaign raised solid funding and earned endorsements from a number of GOP officials, including Assemblyman Phillip Chen and Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner. But she lost during the March 2020 primary to Newport Beach Councilwoman Diane Dixon, who went on to lose in the general election to Democratic incumbent Cottie Petrie-Norris.
“Instead of taking her marbles and going home, she turned around and dedicated her time to volunteer with the Orange County Republican Party,” GOP consultant Jon Fleischman told the Register.
While Ernby lost her Assembly bid, she won a term during the 2020 primary on the OCGOP Central Committee, where she took on leadership roles for the party’s Precinct Operations and Voter Registration committees.
She told the Register she ran for the Central Committee position in part because she believed the party needed to do a better job with its ground game. That’s why she was leading the precinct team, which has been holding informational meetings and taking applications for various positions to gear up for this year’s elections. Precinct chair is not an easy position, Fleischman noted, since it means recruiting team leaders from every city in Orange County.
“She was obviously very passionate in her love for America and her love for the Republican party,” he said.
Ernby, who had a dog named Nixon, was a vocal supporter of charter schools.
She commented most frequently on Twitter over the past year about her opposition to mandates for COVID-19 vaccines. During a Dec. 4 rally against vaccine mandates at Irvine City Hall, Cal State Fullerton’s Daily Titan reports Ernby drew parallels between the 1960s and today, saying in both eras people faced losing freedoms to what she termed socialist ideals.
“There’s nothing that matters more than our freedoms right now,” she said, according to the Daily Titan.
Ernby had filed to run for Assembly again in the 74th District, but that was before the redistricting commission drew her out of that seat. She was widely expected to announce soon that she’d be running in the newly drawn coastal 72nd District, where she’d again face off against Dixon.
Ernby is survived by her husband, Axel.