Last night the Lincoln Club of San Diego hosted its 37th annual dinner at the U.S Grant Hotel in Downtown San Diego. The dinner was to thank business owners who have made an impact in San Diego, especially during last year when the pandemic hurt many businesses. The Lincoln Club’s primary goal is to recruit candidates who are pro-business and support creating a better business climate in San Diego. Last year, the dinner was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The theme of the night was “Top Gun” after the 1986 movie about Navy Fighter Pilots at Miramar and was filmed at a number of landmarks in San Diego. It was a fitting theme as the keynote speaker was Congressman Mike Garcia from the 25th district in California. Garcia is a former Navy Pilot who after years as a businessman, ran for Congress in a special election to fill the seat of Katie Hill who resigned in 2019. Garcia became the first person to flip a congressional seat from Democrat to Republican since 1998. Garcia was also re-elected in 2020.
The Lincoln Club honored Pete Wilson for his years of service to San Diego and California. Wilson first served in the Assembly before being elected Mayor of San Diego and eventually Senator and Governor of California. The dinner was hosted on the 50th anniversary of his election to Mayor and the 30th anniversary of his election to governor. Wilson said, “It is a huge honor and I am delighted and very grateful”.
Lincoln Club President Brian Pepin spoke about growing the Lincoln Club in the aftermath of the pandemic, “I think people are waking up, they realize that big government intrusion in their lives and in their businesses is disastrous”. Pepin also said that their membership is growing and is encouraging even more businesses to get involved, “There are so many businesses in San Diego and so many of them are frustrated with what’s been happening over these last couple of years”.
