Coffee & Conversation with Sara Jacobs

Coffee & Conversation with Sara Jacobs

Posted on May 15, 2018

A native of Del Mar and an engaging democratic congressional candidate for California’s 49th district, Sara Jacobs embraces a youthful mindset and authenticity uncommon in the political world.

At just 29 years old, Jacobs is unafraid to show her age, and says voters are “looking for something different and non-traditional.” She’s active on social media, open about her personal life, and is able to defend her political positions thanks to a wealth of experience at the international nonprofit UNICEF, the state department under the Barack Obama administration, and even the United Nations.

Before hosting her “Coffee and Conversation” discussion at Flower Child in Del Mar’s Flower Hill Promenade, Jacobs swung by Katherine Cosmetics to touch-up her makeup. Similar to the boutique’s interior design, Jacobs is a bright, clean, friendly, and empowering female presence.

Make no mistake, this youthful democrat is more than an engaged citizen, she is serious about making a political difference. With longstanding incumbent Darrell Issa stepping away from District 49 congress, Jacobs says, “Across the district there is an incredible amount of energy and excitement, particularly among young people and women.” As a millennial, Jacobs reassures that her age will play a role in the upcoming election. “Everyone recognizes that our generation is the one going to be living with the consequences of policy decisions longer than anyone else, so we should have a seat at the table,” she says.

So far in the campaign, Jacobs has received just under $1.4 million in contributions in addition to supplying $1 million of her personal finances. Backed by the Women Vote! super PAC, a recent television and digital advertising campaign, a website, and a series of mailers have been launched after $250,000 was donated to the super PAC by Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm founder and grandfather of Sara. The congressional candidate understands her good fortune and wants to use the advantages and opportunities that she has been given to ensure everyone has equal access to opportunities. Jacobs notes that although it takes resources to run a competitive campaign, she relies on her promises of addressing wealth disparity in District 49, especially with regard to the public education sector and military families, for being the reason why voters will turn out on Election Day.

Jacobs says, “This year [voters] are looking for something different, they want someone who doesn’t look like a politician as they’re not interested in the same kinds of politicians with the same ideas.” In order to best progress her campaign before the June 5th primary election, the candidate has a plethora of tactics including further television advertisements, mailers, a field program, roughly 500 volunteers, more than 30 interns, and direct engagement with voters in the community. Her focus is to target “people who wouldn’t normally be interested in politics and to bring politics to them,” so that she can best understand the problems of the district while garnering support to “change the face of power … because we will never be able to solve problems with old ways of thinking. We need a new, fresh approach.”    Jacob Aere