Over my (fairly brief) time covering local politics, there were few candidates—on paper, at least—who were worse than Linda Shepard.
The Capistrano Unified School Board aspirant was pretty much a nobody. Low name recognition, low visibility. I’m pretty deep into Capo Unified, and six months (or so) ago I’d never heard of Linda Shepard.
There’s also the matter of her social media game—which is brutally, brutally, brutally bad. As you read this, Linda has 68 Instagram followers. Sixty. Eight. For comparison’s sake, there’s an IG account for dogs pooping in pretty places that boasts a following of nearly 400,000 peeps [That being said, excreting animals are far more sparkly and dazzling than the dull, pedestrian, plodding Shepard].
Lastly, a fleet of Republicans who endorsed Linda Shepard went to social media and literally misspelled her name. Time and time again …
But here’s the thing, if we’re gonna be real: Linda Shepard knocked on doors.
Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of doors.
I heard this from multiple people throughout election season. Linda in the heat. Linda in the cold. Linda in the rain. Was Linda Shepard exciting? No. Innovative? No. Is she someone who will meekly go along with Linda Davis and Jennifer Adnams and the nut brigade? Yes. But did she knock and knock and knock on the doors of her district?
She certainly did.
And, honestly, you can dislike a candidate and respect some grit. All politics, ultimately, are local, and while signs work and mailers work, nothing beats a face-to-face introduction and handshake. Those things stick with voters. They matter. “I met Linda, and. …”
So, props to Linda Shepard.
I wanted her to lose. But she won.
She walked a lot.
She sent her kids to private school. She doesn’t believe in public education
Ron and his team knocked on thousands of doors. Likely far more than she did as no one ran into her out there. Ron outcampaigned her in every way possible. She isn’t an ‘educator’ and never was but voters aren’t very deep down ballot. OC stayed red and continues to be a decade behind the rest of the country.