Kelly Ernby is a political newcomer who had recently ran for the Orange County state Assembly seat a few years as a Republican. She die a few weeks ago of COVID-19. In addition to her political activism, she had worked for a decade as an Orange County deputy district attorney.
Ernby was a Huntington Beach resident, and she was 46.
“The Orange County district attorney’s office is utterly heartbroken by the sudden and unexpected passing of Deputy Dist. Atty. Kelly Ernby,” Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “Kelly was an incredibly vibrant and passionate attorney who cared deeply about the work that we do as prosecutors — and deeply about the community we all fight so hard to protect.”
Spitzer had nothing but praise for Ernby’s enthusiasm as part of his agency’s Environmental Protection Team and called it an “absolute privilege” to work alongside her.
News of Ernby’s death surfaced that prior Monday morning when the other local Republicans began paying tribute to her.
Indeed, one of the main reasons why Kelly Ernby became so well-respected in the Orange County area is because she made a stand against the vaccine mandates and became a symbol as a result.
“She was very passionate about her love for politics, for America and the Republican Party,” said Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the California Republican Party and a longtime Orange County GOP activist. “She jumped into a race for state Assembly when not many people knew her, ended up raising more money and having a much larger grass-roots organization than expected.”
In 2020, Ernby went ahead and declared her candidacy for State Assembly in the 74th District, describing herself as a political outsider. Her chosen district had been anchored by Irvine but also many coastal cities as well. It was in the primary election that she challenged Newport Beach Mayor Diane Dixon, a fellow GOP member, for the chance to unseat Democratic incumbent Cottie Petrie-Norris.
Ernby earned the endorsement of former Newport Beach City Councilman Scott Peotter, Dixon’s onetime colleague on the dais. She also enjoyed the support of Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, former Assemblyman Jim Silva and Mission Viejo Councilman Greg Raths.
Ernby earned the endorsement of former Newport Beach City Councilman Scott Peotter, Dixon’s one-time colleague in regards to the dais. Ernby also had the support of former Assemblyman Jim Silva, Mission Viejo Councilman Greg Raths, and Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner. Before the COVID-19 pandemic reached its full course, there was Ernby taking a full stand against a new state law that just about mandated these vaccines for young schoolchildren.
She appeared in an online town hall in regards to the issue in November 2019.
“I don’t think that the government should be involved in mandating what vaccines people are taking,” she said. “I think that’s a decision between doctors and their patients…. If the government is going to mandate vaccines, what else are they going to mandate?”
Dixon edged Ernby for second place by a razor-thin 4,000 votes before narrowly losing to Petrie-Norris in the general election.
“A lot of people take their marbles and go home, but after losing her state Assembly race, Kelly got involved with the county Republican Party instead,” Fleischman said. “She took on the very important job of being precinct chairman, which meant she was finding captains, as they call them, in all of the different cities around Orange County in getting geared up for the next election cycle.”
This Republican candidate would eventually become an elected Orange County GOP central committee member in 2020. She had been halfway through her first four-year term when she had passed away.
According to Fleischman, Ernby was gearing up for another State Assembly run in the newly drawn 72nd district just in case when the two friends traded messages last week. Additionally, Ernby had confided in Fleischman that she had fallen ill with COVID-19, but Fleischman didn’t expect her to die.
Rather, Fleischman merely called her passing “sudden”, especially considering that the two were going to talk this week.
“I found her to be funny and generous,” he said. “She quickly became part of the fabric of our party. We’re really going to miss her. It’s very sad.”
During the pandemic, Ernby remained an ardent and vocal opponent of COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
As recently as Dec. 4, this Republican candidate spoke against such mandates during a rally outside Irvine City Hall. Organized by the UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton chapters of Turning Point USA, the rally drew dozens in attendance, according to the Daily Titan, a Fullerton student newspaper.
“There’s nothing that matters more than our freedoms right now,” Ernby said.
The daughter of Navy veterans, this Republican candidate grew up in San Diego. She earned a law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and was recruited to join the Irvine offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Ernby took a significant pay cut in 2011 to work for the Orange County district attorney’s office until the time of her death.
Ernby is survived by her husband, Axel.
