By Tina Rynberg and Jeff Benesch | La Mesa Foothills Democratic Club

When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old activist endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, took out 10-term Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th District, it sent shockwaves through party establishment. Was Ocasio-Cortez’s election a harbinger of things to come for Democrats or an isolated phenomenon?

Will progressive Democrats, particularly women, have similar success against Trump- backed Republicans in November? And why are women such an important cog in the party’s “Blue Wave” hopes to turn the House, the Senate and statehouses nationwide to Democratic majorities this November? Will the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, a jurist with a long history of conservative rulings and opinions, to the soon-to-be-vacant SCOTUS seat now held by Anthony Kennedy, create even more trepidation among voters concerned with women’s reproductive rights, gender inequity in the workplace, gerrymandering, voting and gay rights, affirmative action, presidential executive power, and many other divisive issues and drive Democratic voters to the polls this November?

These are the issues to be explored at the next La Mesa Foothills Democratic Club (LMFDC) meeting by our expert panel, led by San Diego City Council Pro Tem Barbara Bry on Wednesday, Aug. 1 at the La Mesa Community Center. Bry is the founding president of Run Women Run, an organization devoted to getting women to not only run for office, but to win.

Bry represents San Diego’s City Council District 1 and serves as chair of the Committee on Budget and Government Efficiency. She’s the vice chair of the Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee, and is a member of both the Committee on Rules and the Committee on Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations. She was sworn into office on Dec. 12, 2016.

Under Bry’s leadership as chair of the Budget Committee, San Diego adopted a fiscally responsible FY 2018 Budget that sustains essential neighborhood services, enhances public safety, restores funding for the arts, designates funding for the implementation of the Climate Action Plan, and supports other important city services.

In the community, Bry serves on the board of directors of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, and the San Diego Jewish Women’s Foundation, and she is a member of San Diego Rotary Club 33. Bry is a high-tech entrepreneur and community leader who worked her way through college and graduate school, earning a master’s degree in business from Harvard. She was on the founding team of several local high-tech companies, including ProFlowers.com, which has created hundreds of local jobs. Additionally, she served as the first associate director of CONNECT, and is the founder of Athena San Diego, the leading organization for women in the San Diego tech and life sciences community.

The La Mesa Foothills Democratic Club represents the communities of San Carlos, Del Cerro, Santee, La Mesa, Mt. Helix, Allied Gardens, College Area, Casa de Oro, and other nearby communities.

LMFDC meets the first Wednesday of every month at the La Mesa Community Center, 4975 Memorial Drive in La Mesa, just off University Avenue. All local residents are welcome to join our 7 p.m. meetings, with a half hour social time at 6:30 p.m. with snacks, desserts, salads and beverages supplied by the members. New memberships start at only $15 from now to the end of the year.

— Tina Rynburg is president and Jeff Benesch is vice president of programming for the La Mesa Foothills Democratic Club. Reach them at [email protected] or visit bit.ly/2N3Kksw.