Marni von Wilpert
A Fighter for San Diego’s Working Families
Marni von Wilpert is a San Diego City Councilmember, lifelong public servant, and former prosecutor who flipped San Diego’s most conservative council district blue. Now, she’s ready to do it again, by flipping California’s 48th Congressional District. Born and raised in North San Diego County in a proud military family, Marni’s father immigrated to the United States and served in the Army, while her grandfather fought in World War II. Her parents instilled in her a deep commitment to service — one that has taken her across the world and back home to San Diego. From serving in the Peace Corps in Botswana during the AIDS epidemic, to founding a legal clinic in the Deep South to combat discrimination, to serving in Congress as counsel on the House Education and Labor Committee where she helped write the PRO Act to strengthen workers’ rights, Marni has built a career defined by courage, compassion, and results.
As a civil prosecutor in the San Diego City Attorney’s Office, she cracked down on price gouging during the pandemic, held polluters accountable, and took on the opioid industry for devastating families across California. On City Council, she’s delivered tangible results — authoring the state’s first ban on untraceable ghost guns, securing affordable housing grants for teachers, improving emergency response times, opposing water and trash rate hikes, and ensuring full funding for public safety and first responders.
Putting San Diegans First
Marni has a proven record of getting results that matter to working families. As chair of the Public Safety Committee, she’s kept communities safe by securing resources for firefighters and police, fought for fiscal responsibility in city government, protected abortion access, and expanded access to lifesaving opioid treatment. Her leadership has helped transform San Diego into a more equitable, sustainable, and secure community. From championing immigrant and refugee rights to leading the redevelopment of the $3.8 billion Terminal 1 airport expansion — creating good-paying union jobs and boosting the local economy — Marni has consistently put people over politics and worked across the aisle to get things done. Marni is running for Congress to continue this fight for working families, lower costs, improve health care access, stand up for workers, and create more opportunity in Southern California. As an LGBTQ+ woman, she’s always been a fierce advocate for equal rights under the law and will continue to fight back against attacks from the Trump administration.
Flip CA-48, Take Back the House
Marni is running for California’s 48th Congressional District — one of the most competitive seats in the country and under the new maps in California. For years, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa has put special interests, extremists, and partisan politics ahead of Southern California. With her record of flipping tough districts and fighting for working families, Marni is the battle-tested leader who can win this seat and make Washington work for everyday Californians. She’ll take on rising costs, defend reproductive freedom, protect LGBTQ+ rights, and ensure that San Diego’s families have a voice that truly represents them. EMILYs List is proud to stand with her in the critical election and take back the U.S. House.
Marni von Wilpert has proven that progress is possible — even in the toughest districts — when leaders put service above self. Now she’s ready to bring that same integrity, work ethic, and fight to Congress to finally send Darrell Issa packing and deliver results for the people of California’s 48th.