Democratic Club’s Leader Forced Out

Oxnard City Council candidate Saul Medina was forced to resign as president of the city’s Democratic club because he endorsed a Republican candidate for Assembly, party officials said Thursday.

Medina, 31, resigned Tuesday after the Greater Oxnard Organization of Democrats’ executive committee threatened to remove him, officials said. Medina could not be reached for comment.

He announced last week that he supported Republican Bob Pohl in the hotly contested race in the 35th Assembly District, which covers southern Santa Barbara County and parts of western Ventura County, including about half of Oxnard.

Medina’s decision has already affected his race for the Oxnard City Council.

Former Democratic Central Committee Chairman Hank Lacayo and his wife, Leah, a Ventura County Fair Board member, withdrew their support of Medina.

“Everyone’s chagrined by what happened,” Lacayo said. “It was poor judgment on his part. He’s a young man who made a mistake. I supported him, and I felt betrayed. When you join a political party organization, you have to have some discipline when it comes to accepting the parameters of that party.”

As president of the Oxnard Democratic club, Medina automatically gained membership in the county Democratic Central Committee, Lacayo said.

But since resigning, he has also been dropped from the county’s largest Democratic organization.

In addition, the Tri-Counties Central Labor Council said it would cancel thousands of dollars worth of work it had committed to Medina’s campaign, including operating a phone bank and walking precincts on his behalf.

Those resources will be redirected to Pedro Nava, the Democratic Assembly candidate running against Pohl, a Santa Barbara educational consultant.

Pohl, who has endorsed Medina for Oxnard City Council, said Medina received a raw deal.

“He didn’t do this to undercut the Democratic Party,” Pohl said. “He just thinks sometimes there’s a good candidate out there who doesn’t happen to be a Democrat. He’s standing by us and not backing down. It’s good for all of us to get out of the box sometimes. California’s problems are bigger than both parties.”