Los Angeles County Supervisor, Sheila Kuehl, came to the defense of West Hollywood Council member, Lindsey Horvath, who is running for Kuehl’s seat, via a mass email sent Wednesday evening. Kuehl mainly defends Horvath’s LGBTQ credentials ahead of an alleged LA TIMES article that’s in the works. The TIMES article, according to a source, questions Horvath’s revamped campaign website; in particular, her recent bio, which has scrubbed the words West Hollywood, and also removed a line from the previous version describing her as someone “widely known for her work advancing the rights of LGBTQ+ people.”
“A strange thing happened on the way to Election Day,” wrote journalist Scott Steepleton who first reported the changes in theacorn.com. “Horvath’s campaign website makes scant mention of West Hollywood, and doesn’t specifically state anywhere that she is a council member there, let alone a two-time mayor.”
Wehoville republished the entire Acorn story, and then did a followup piece after WEHO TIMES also reported the story and published before and after screen grabs of her bio.
Though she does not mention Wehoville by name, Sheila Kuehl calls out “a somewhat despicable rag” that also published an interview with Horvath’s opponent, Bob Hertzberg, who she says tried to take credit for the passage of her gay student bill, one she calls a hallmarks of her time in Sacramento.
Sheila Kuehl’s defense of Lindsey Horvath does not address or explain the changes in Horvath’s bio, and Horvath did not respond to our request for comment.
Kuehl’s email “Some needed truth about Lindsey Horvath’s opponent’s latest moves” reads as follows:
“Well… inspired by Cassidy Hutchinson’s truth-telling and ever more disgusted by the tactics of Lindsey Horvath’s opponent running for my seat on the Board of Supervisors (I’ve enthusiastically endorsed Lindsey — the ONLY one qualified to carry on the work.), I just wanted to let my entire list know the truth about Lindsey, whom Supervisor Janice Hahn and Supervisor Hilda Solis have also endorsed.
A somewhat despicable rag published in Lindsey’s hometown of West Hollywood is pushing a non-story about her not sufficiently touting her LGBTQ ally credentials in her campaign.
They also pushed it to the LA Times, I hear, and I’m going to try and set them straight (so to speak). But, with the press, you never know what they’ll quote, so I’m doing my own truth-telling communication.
Coincidentally, that same West Hollywood rag published an interview with Lindsey’s opponent in which he (astoundingly) tried to take credit for the passage of my gay student bill, one of the hallmarks of my time in Sacramento. But, of course, it’s made even more outrageous because Carole Migden, Chris Kehoe, Jackie Goldberg, and I worked five years to get that bill through (see an excellent documentary on this: Political Animals).
So, he’s using this rag to try and burnish his (non-existent) LGBTQ credentials.
Here’s the truth: Lindsey Horvath has been one of the most stalwart allies of our community through her life and electoral service.
Starting in college at Notre Dame, Lindsey helped create one of the first gay/straight alliances and plan a Queer Film Festival. As a result, she was invited as one of the few straight students to attend the National Conference on Gender in 2003 (sponsored by Gender Pac, which lobbied Congress on Transgender Rights).
She served on the Board of the Victory Fund, which supports LGBTQ candidates nationally, was Vice President of Communications for Stonewall Dems, and was on the National Board of SAGE (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders).
In West Hollywood, she created and wrote the policy to institute guidelines for supporting transitioning employees, adopted by the Chamber of Commerce and then-CA Attorney General Kamala Harris for her office.
She received the Stonewall President’s Award in 2019 and has helped guide tens of millions of needed dollars to service providers in our community. In addition, she currently serves on LA County’s Ending HIV Epidemic Commission.
Lindsey is an indisputable active and strong ally and has been for decades.
She is endorsed not only by me but by Torie Osborn, Jackie Goldberg, Jeffrey Prang, Robert Garcia, David Vela, Judy Abdo, John D’Amico, John Erickson, Sepi Shyne, Steve Martin, Sasha Renee Perez, Bamby Salcedo, Jasmyne Cannick, Marquita Thomas, HONOR PAC, Stonewall Dems, and the Stonewall Young Dems (the rest of the list of LGBTQ+ supporters is way too long).
What’s her opponent done? Bupkis.
Please pay attention during this critical time for LA County and this country.
We need Lindsey. I could do this same kind of email on her environmental credentials, civil rights credentials, extensive feminist movement credentials, and dealing with the Sheriff credentials (WeHo is a city that contracts with the Sheriff for law enforcement).
We need Lindsey. We do not need her opponent, whose views and actions are so different in so many ways (check out his vociferous blasting and no vote on a bill to ban oil drilling and personal attacks on its author).
Support Lindsey. Vote for Lindsey.Give Lindsey some money if you can to fend off this smear job. Don’t reward mendacity!
Thanks for listening. I’m just a bit fed up with so much these days.
— Sheila Kuehl”
And how does she view Horvaths blatant conflict of interest in the endorsement from Nika Soon-Shiong’s dads LA Times in return for her appointment to the Public Safety Commission and the platform for out of town anarchists to defund our police and first responders?
Does anyone take Sheila Kuehl seriously? If she says “Yes” to anything, the true answer must be “No.”
It’s shocking to me the extent to which Horvath is disliked and distrusted in West Hollywood. She’s still fooling some people–mostly those who are blinded by their own emotional needs or ambitions and seek to benefit from being in her orbit.
Horvath is liked and trusted enough to have made it to the general election. I adore her. The only thing that made Supervisor Kuehl retiring not seriously concerning to me, is that Lindsey is running. And if you trust Bob, who sued his own father, and has made people uncomfortable with hugs and wanted to reduce child support so he could run for Mayor, I’ve got a bridge I’d love to sell you.
This article forgets to say Sheila identifies as lesbian and she’s a very old school one. She’s the kind that hates men so not a surprise that she is trashing a male candidate over a female. She did call it out right that Whoville is a trash rag. Just saying.
Smear job? Lindsey Horvath is a lair and Sheila Kuehl is delusional. Horvath has spent the last year working to defund the West Hollywood Sheriff Department which she did last Monday night, June 27 as a member of the West Hollywood City Council all the while calling herself the law and order candidate for LA County Supervisor. Horvath claims to have decreased Crime as the mayor of Weho, lol… first of all, mayor is a ceremonial title only that rotates between the council members, second of all, crime has increased 137% this past year with Horvath on the council. She… Read more »
Reduction of sheriffs is not defunding. We just want less of that corrupt sheriff until he’s voted out In November
It is indeed defunding. The budget was reduced by 1.5 million dollars from the current budget.
Sheila Kuehl reminds me of all those Trump aids who risked their reputation just so they could be near Trump, for a few months, or a few years, until they eventually turned on each other. Sheila Kuehl has ruined her entire life’s work and reputation, just to come to the defense of this vile wannabe hypocrite opportunist Lindsey Horvath, who clearly will tell whatever group she is speaking to, what she thinks they want to hear. Sheila Kuehl has gone from a respectable elder representative, to a toxic Trump-like kiss-a**. Sheila Kuehl’s life work was gambled just to protect Lindsey… Read more »
Defend her all you want…we’ll be rid of her soon enough and hopefully the county will dodge a bullet and she’ll been out of the picture (although I doubt she’ll stay out of politics and will eventually pop back up like a bad penny). She’s too politically thirsty.
If you want to talk about politically “thirsty”, you might want to think about Bob, who went to court to reduce child support to his ex wife, for his 2 sons, so he could RUN FOR MAYOR.