Who the heck is Lisa Ramirez?

And why enter the CA-40 congressional race ... now?

So a few days ago word dropped that the CA-40 congressional race has added its 873,663rd contestant to try and take on Republican Young Kim.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s … Lisa Ramirez.

I said, Lisa Ramirez!

Dammit! I said—LISA RAMIREZ!!!!

And, um, not gonna lie. I’m confused. A visit to Ramirez’s new website introduces the world to a candidate who is … well … hmm … eh … ah … definitely a human being. With a head, hands, a neck and a name.

Here’s her offered bio ..

I look forward to meeting Lisa, and hopefully hearing her plans and reasoning. But, at first blush, I don’t get it. Officially, she’s the seventh person to join the race to oust Young Kim. Which means she’s hobbled by a late start on a fundraising trail dominated (thus far) by Esther Kim Varet. She’s also far from a recognizable name. This isn’t Chris Kluwe running for assembly, or even Perry Meade jumping into a local stew where he’s been active since the womb.

No, this is a fairly obscure “mother, soccer coach, business leader, and attorney” who lists zero political positions on the site. Even tougher, she’s entering the campaign just a few days after we learned CA-40 will very likely wind up (post-redistricting) heavily slanted toward a Republican. If anything, I expect a good number of candidates to wind up dropping out, as opposed to sticking around to take a (likely) L at the hands of a conservative.

That said, maybe Lisa Ramirez knows something I don’t. Maybe she’s possessed with the superpower to turn red blue, or win voters over with charm and smarts and a detailed plan.

For the sake of democracy, I’m here for it.