Perennial Candidate Joe Kerr Challenged In State Court For Hiding Shady Business Ventures And Deceiving CA-40 Voters
Lawsuit Contests Kerr’s Congressional Ballot Designation As Illegal
COTO DE CAZA, CA — Esther Kim-Varet, frontrunner to flip California’s 40th Congressional District, today announced that she has filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate in Sacramento Superior Court to block Democratic opponent Joe Kerr from using an illegal ballot designation in the June 2, 2026 primary election. Kerr was served a summons at his Coto de Caza, CA home on March 20th, with an emergency hearing scheduled for 10:30am PT March 26th before Judge Stephen Acquisto.
The petition, filed by leading election law firm Olson Remcho, LLP, presents overwhelming evidence that Kerr has held at least six separate paid positions since leaving the fire department fourteen years ago — including roles as director and secretary of a Nevada wildfire consulting corporation that paid him nearly $400,000 in salary over an 18-month period, a state-appointed water board director, a full-time COVID vaccination site worker, a union business agent and consultant, and the President of a company that was twice cited and ordered by the State of California to cease unlawful marketing of its securities to investors.
Under California law, a candidate may not use the word “retired” in a ballot designation if the candidate has had a more recent, intervening principal profession, vocation, or occupation. Kerr has had at least six.
“Joe Kerr has been lying to voters, and we won’t let him get away with it,” said Esther Kim-Varet. “While I respect his past service, Kerr left the fire department fourteen years ago, and has since held a string of paid consulting jobs and corporate officerships, including nearly $400,000 in salary from a Nevada corporation. Calling yourself ‘Retired’ after all of that is simply dishonest. The residents of CA-40 deserve integrity and honesty from those who serve them in Congress, and that’s exactly what I’ll deliver.”
A Pattern of Deception
Since taking early retirement in 2012 at just 52 years old from his admirable service with fire department, Kerr has repeatedly provided dishonest statements to the California Secretary of State and county registrars in order to justify a ballot designation he is not legally entitled to use, in connection with his various unsuccessful candidacies for public office.
In 2022, when the Secretary of State questioned the legality of his ballot designation, Kerr responded via email dishonestly downplaying each of his six post-retirement jobs: describing a six-figure corporate salary as “occasional phone calls,” a decade-long union role as “attending some meetings,” and a gubernatorial board appointment as a minor Zoom commitment. He omitted two other jobs entirely. In every case, his own financial disclosures tell a very different story.
While Kerr told the Secretary of State that his role at Rapid Response to Carbon Ignition (RRCI) involved only occasional phone calls, his U.S. House Financial Disclosure Report reveals that RRCI paid him $207,555 in 2022 and $180,000 in the first half of 2023 alone — a total of approximately $387,555 in salary over just 18 months.
Similarly, while Kerr minimized his work for the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association, a 2020 state press release described him as having been “a business agent at the Orange County Professional Firefighters Association since 2012”, a paid position he held for nearly a decade after his supposed retirement. His campaign website’s bio page states that he was a President of the organization.
“The right of voters in California’s 40th Congressional District to be accurately informed about the candidates who seek to represent them, and to not be misled by materials issued by the State and county, will be irreparably injured if Kerr is permitted to use the ballot designation,” wrote Kim-Varet’s attorneys Margaret Prinzing and Andrew Werbrock of Olson Remcho LLP in their March 20th Superior Court petition.
Perennial Loser, Serial Liar
Joe Kerr is not a viable candidate for Congress. He is a perennial candidate who has failed in every one of his many bids for various elected offices. In 2024, Kerr lost his mostly self-funded bid for CA-40 to Republican Young Kim by a wide margin, after being outspent nearly 10-to-1, despite having accepted funding from corporations and foreign interest PACs.
Kerr’s record of skirting the law extends beyond willful violation of ballot designation rules. In 2011 and then again in 2014, the State of California issued a citation and order to cease and desist against Superior Traffic Controls, Inc. (originally LLC), a Nevada corporation of which Kerr was President (and against Kerr personally in 2014!), for the unlawful offer and sale of securities.
MAGA Consultants Running a “Democrat” Spoiler
Kerr’s Virginia-based sole campaign consultants, i77 Strategies received an astounding 79% of all disbursements from Kerr’s failed 2024 CA40 campaign. Other than Kerr, i77 exclusively advises MAGA Republican candidates. i77 partner Aaron Spradlin serves as Kerr’s campaign treasurer. i77 partner Jeffrey Hoeflich-Nickels is Treasurer of a PAC registered with the FEC to support “Republican/Conservative” candidates, and has posted on his personal X account many Trump/MAGA endorsements including “SAVE AMERICA! Vote Trump/Vance” (on 10/28/24) and “PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT!” (On 2/19/26). Spradlin and Hoeflich-Nickels and their spouses all maxed out as donors to Kerr’s 2024 campaign. FEC records confirm that Kerr is the only non-Republican candidate affiliated with i77 Stategies. In 2022 i77 ran Greg Raths, a far-right Republican and noted bigot against Young Kim in the CA-40 primary. Read that again. Yes, Kerr’s campaign is controlled by MAGA consultants who previously ran a far-right Republican in the same district.
It gets even worse. FEC records reveal that i77 co-founder Hoeflich-Nickels served as treasurer of Flip the 40th, a Super PAC that i77 created out of its own Roanoke, Virginia PO Box to spend in the 2024 CA-40 race — the same race i77 was simultaneously being paid to manage as Kerr’s campaign consultants. The PAC raised donor money and paid it right back to i77 for the same texting and digital advertising services the campaign was already paying them for — including a single October 2024 disbursement of over $121,000. Federal law requires strict independence between campaigns and Super PACs; operating both from the same two-person firm at the same mailing address with money flowing in both directions constitutes farcical disregard of campaign finance laws.
When your campaign is a front for a MAGA firm, unable to raise money, built on lies, and structured for grift — you are not a Democrat. You are a fraudulent spoiler.
Kerr’s Former Field Director Defects to Kim-Varet
Esther Kim-Varet also today announced that Harrison Levitan has joined her campaign as Field Director. Levitan previously served as Field Director for Joe Kerr’s campaign during the 2024 CA-40 general election — and has now joined the only campaign with the resources, strategy, and integrity to actually flip this seat.
“I worked for Joe Kerr in 2024 and saw firsthand what happens when a campaign can’t compete,” said Levitan. “Esther Kim-Varet has the courage to call out corruption in CA-40 and she will bring that same fight to Washington.”
Court Deadline: 5PM on March 26, 2026
The Sacramento Superior Court must act by March 26, 2026 at 5:00 PM — the deadline for the Secretary of State to transmit the certified list of eligible candidates and ballot designations to county elections officials. Kim-Varet’s legal team has asked the court to prohibit Kerr from using any designation related to his prior vocations from over a decade ago.
“Each of these serious issues — the willfully fraudulent ballot designation, the securities violations, the MAGA consultants, serial failure as a perennial candidate — are individually disqualifying,” said Kim-Varet. “Together, sadly they reveal that Kerr is a candidate who has no business running for Congress. CA-40 deserves a Representative who can actually defeat incumbents Young Kim and Ken Calvert, who will fight relentlessly to root out corruption from all three branches of the Federal government. The path to a better tomorrow for our community and our nation starts with confronting corruption today — on both sides of the aisle.”
California’s newly drawn 40th Congressional District, spanning portions of Riverside County and Orange County, is one of the most consequential U.S. House district battlegrounds in the nation. CA-40 includes the cities of Rancho Santa Margarita, Murrieta, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and Canyon Lake as well as parts of Mission Viejo, Orange, Anaheim and Corona.
First-time candidate Esther Kim-Varet has raised over $2.75 million to date, powered by over 50,000 individual small dollar contributions from across the nation, with no corporate or foreign PAC money whatsoever. Esther is not a politician — she is a working mom of two young kids, running for Congress to restore the American Dream for all. In Congress, Esther will combat corruption, defend democracy, and fight for the middle class, small businesses, public education, and healthcare access.
This feels less like a campaign and more like a tantrum. It reads like a bad idea that made it out of a group chat.
If this is the strategy, the panic makes sense.
Yup, that’s a good summary of Joe Kerr’s bankrupt campaign which is completely controlled by his Virginia-based MAGA consultants but can’t raise any money to fund their grift
Taking a page out of the let’s tank fred Jung’s campaign with a writ songbook.
When democrats attack … each other.
Esther Kim thinks she can win by slandering everyone because she knows that her story as a rich art dealer who moved from NY with her trust fund (and husbands family with who’s literally in the Epstein files) is not going to win the seat. She is power hungry, lashes out at anyone who asks her questions and behaves like a “ferret with no impulse control” as another article said. We cannot let this candidate be elected to Congress.
Esther’s in-laws are in the Epstein files. She’s despicable.
Esther’s in-laws live in Palm Beach where there are societal email lists to invite people in the community to attend social functions. Esther’s in-laws appear in the Epstein files on a list of locals invited to a function and Epstein is on the same email. To imply they participates in trafficking minors is wrong. You might want to do a better job of reading the Epstein files.
Esther Kim thinks she can use her money to silence people. She won’t even talk to constituents. How much did she pay you to write this article ?
I did not write her press release; I re-published it as I do for all Democratic candidates who send me a press release to run. If they show up in my spam folder, sometimes they get deleted. There are times I will run a press release that upsets my friends; they should get over it. Every Democrat deserves to have their announcements published.
And I’ve been doing this for 20 years so you’re either ignorant or stupid — which is it?
Esther does talk to constituents (virtual and in-person meet and greets). If interested, and if you have not done so already, check her socials. So far, I haven’t seen that for Young Kim, haven’t checked for Ken Calvert, and haven’t seen any for Joe Kerr (although he did respond that he plans to). Lisa does invites mainly for canvassing at this time from what I’ve seen, and not sure about Nina except she definitely has gone to some places to talk to people in person other than canvassing.
Probably a bad challenge. You can use “Retired” if five factors exist: (1) you worked in the profession for at least 5 years; (2) you collect a pension; (4) you’re over 55; (4) you voluntarily retired; and (5) “the candidate’s retirement benefits are providing him or her with a principal source of income.” (CCR Tit. 2, Sec. 20716, subd. (h)(2). Esther is challenging the last factor. But “principal” source does not have to be “only” source, and a firefighter’s pension is significant. Additionally, the regs look at right now. Even if Joe *had been* collecting millions in salary on other jobs, if he is a full time candidate now, and is not collecting significant funds (and the government boards will not displace his pension income), it’s still a “principal source of income.”
Esther has raised a lot of money, but this is a bad use of it.
Hope you are not an attorney Lee Fink because you apparently didn’t read down to section (h)(4) which overrides (h)(2) and is therefore determinative in this case, making Kerr’s “retired” designation plainly invalid:
(h)(4) A candidate may not use the word “retired” in his or her ballot designation if that candidate possesses another more recent, intervening principal profession, vocation, or occupation.
Lee Fink is an accomplished barrister who is a member of the DPOC central committee
Well he must have missed the day in law school when they covered how legislation works … you have to read all of the clauses and determine which ones are determinative. The law is what it is, so Lee Fink Esq. is either incompetent as an attorney or else is intentionally disseminating disinformation.
I guess Esther joins the list of people who assured me I was wrong and the Court said I was right.
Esther is also coming perilously close to libel. I’d suggest she apologize and withdraw her comments.
She appeare unhinged.
Allyson Damikolas also tried this.
She lost in court.
Then lost the election.
Allyson lost because Joe Kerr — or rather his MAGA campaign consultants — maliciously, viciously, and falsely slandered her in his mailings and communications. He also used his connections to the firefighter union to bully elected officials and other unions to endorse him.
Riddle me this: why is the OC firefighters union — which many years ago Kerr was President of — REFUSING to endorse Kerr in this cycle?
BTW you have no clue at all what you are talking about because Allyson never did challenge Kerr in court
Why don’t you just give it a rest instead of spreading misinformation
My bad. It was Sen. Blakespear.
How did your lawsuit turn out?
I hope Esther did not spend too much.
Who am I kidding?
I laughed my ass off when I read Jeff Pearlman’s column.
Desperate folks take desperate measures.
I’m not sure what Is deceptive about “retired firefighter”
Riddle me that.
The issue is specific to the rules for the ballot designation (the words that appear along with the candidate name on the ballot). Likely, this rule was the point of discussion: “A candidate may not use the word “retired” in his or her ballot designation if that candidate possesses another more recent, intervening principal profession, vocation, or occupation.” The definition of “principal profession” was likely in play. These rules vary by state.
Do you bother to research anything you write before you hit the “enter” key?
Right there at the top. RH column
https://www.joekerrforcongress.com/endorsements
Good catch and Glad you brought that up!
Another good example of KERR’S LIES
They did endorse him for his failed bid in 2024 but are REFUSING to for this election — yet he shamelessly lies about it on his website. I’ll let them know to have him take that down.
If they did endorse him for the current election don’t you think he would have shared that along with his other union endorsements?: https://www.instagram.com/joekerrforcongress?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Prove me wrong. I;ll wait.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVzECJYksge/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Thank you for the softball.
Ah so he’s also lying on his reels! I was looking on his posts where he didnt have the cajones to post this lie. He is trying to promote their 2024 endorsement as being an endorsement for the current election, which it’s not. Shameful.
The FB post
https://fb.watch/G5gylkSGEX/
Then you should call the FF office and ask. I’m betting they confirm.
I’ll save you the trouble. I already did.
You’re delusional.
I predict he kicks ass in this frivolous lawsuit.
But hey. Esther’s attorneys and political team got paid. They don’t care.
Update: Kerr prevails in court
Of course he did!
She is such a loser!!!
Kamalalalalala and Joanna and Alyson all wrapped up in one.
Flame out the aisle 1.
It would be interesting to see the details of the court decision. I haven’t seen the financials that were the basis of the request for Writ of Mandate decision, so I’m basing my comments on the allegations as presented. As the one example mentioned of a salary of $390k over 18 months after retiring from the firefighter job, among other jobs w/o salaries documented, one wonders how much money he would have had to make, and over what period of time in those jobs, so that the election rules would then not have allowed the retired firefighter ballot designation. His pension is now $168k/yr and $133k back in 2012 (public record), so the $390k dollar amount would seem to fit the definition of “principal”. However, even with that salary, he might have other investments that raise his yearly income far past the $390k mark, in which case maybe the $390k salary he received is no longer considered a principal profession.