Angelique Ashby calls herself a ‘Women’s Advocate.’ A judge says she can’t use it on ballot

The battle of ballot titles continues in California’s 8th Senate District race, where both Democratic candidates have now accused the other of misleading the public with ambiguous designations.

Dave Jones filed a petition Tuesday night challenging his opponent, Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby, after she changed her ballot designation to “Councilmember/Women’s Advocate.” The brief was also filed against the California Secretary of State Shirley Weber.

Ashby, who was elected to the council in 2010, called the move a “petty legal challenge.”

Back in April, Ashby did much the same, calling out Jones for his ballot designation as an Environmental Advocate/Educator. Jones, a former state Insurance Commissioner, has never been a teacher, and Ashby’s campaign said it was a misleading title.

Jones defended himself, clarifying that “educator” was never meant to be synonymous with “teacher.”

“As an educator, Dave has undertaken research, co-authored and published papers, convened educational conferences, spoken as an academic expert on numerous panels and at conferences, advised students, and lectured. Dave is not a teacher, and he has never claimed to be a teacher,” said Jones’ campaign spokesman Michael Soneff back in April.

Unlike the Jones campaign, though, Ashby never challenged the title in court.

Jones’ Attorney: ‘Women’s Advocate’ is not a vocation

Ashby’s camp was surprised by the brief from Jones’ team that said her use of “Women’s Advocate” on her ballot title is “false, misleading, and improper, it should be stricken.”

They made their case on Wednesday morning in the California Superior Court.

“Additional community involvement is not a sufficient basis” for a formal ballot designation vocation, argued Jones’ attorney Lee Fink.

“You can’t double-dip,” he said. “There’s a logic to that, otherwise a judge could be ‘Judge/Law Enforcer’ or Gov. Newsom could be ‘Governor/Health Care Advocate.”

Judge Stephen Acquisto agreed, ruling that Ashby has not provided enough evidence that “Women’s Advocate” is a primary vocation distinctive enough from her work on the city council.

Ashby said the judge got it wrong.

“Today Dave Jones claimed that being a women’s advocate is not a real vocation. A male judge agreed with him. That’s disappointing, but not surprising,” she said.

Ashby filed the designation form on August 1 to include “Women’s Advocate” on her ballot title, and on August 3 responded to the Secretary of State’s request for more information with a letter outlining her work in women’s advocacy.

In the hearing, Secretary of State attorney Rachelle Delucchi confirmed that her office reached out to Ashby for further information about that designation change, and that they were satisfied with the information provided.

Fink said that many of the examples — helping organize the Sacramento Women’s March and the Sacramento Black Women’s March, leading a study on gender parity in the City of Sacramento, organizing on behalf of women experiencing homelessness, and organizing to support the women hit hardest by COVID-19 — all happened between 2017 and 2020, when Ashby was on the city council.

Ashby must remove “Women’s Advocate” from her ballot title, but she can include it on her ballot statement which appears in the county voter guide. She will appear on the ballot as “City Councilwoman.”

“Ashby’s attempt to mislead voters shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who followed her primary campaign, as she never shied away from misrepresenting her record and the record of Dave Jones, lies that were paid for by the big oil companies and their allies that backed her campaign,” said Soneff on Wednesday.

Ashby received $4,900 from a PAC with numerous funders, including the oil industry. The same PAC coordinated an independent expenditure campaign against Jones, to which Ashby had no connection.

Soneff also referenced a controversy from Ashby’s Sacramento mayoral run in 2016.

“This isn’t the first time Ashby has misrepresented her profession,” he said. “Councilmember Ashby previously claimed to be a public defender, until evidence came out that she had never worked as a public defender, and wasn’t even an attorney.”

She earned her Juris Doctorate from McGeorge School of Law, and interned in the public defenders office.

Ashby used the court decision as the basis for a fundraising pitch.

“I’m a lifelong dem, pro-choice, woman, former single Mom, & for 6yrs the only woman on (city council),” she wrote on Twitter. Today my opponent said being a women’s advocate is not a vocation. Help me prove him wrong… let’s change my title to Senator.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Angelique Ashby calls herself a ‘Women’s Advocate.’ A judge says she can’t use it on ballot."