Political hopeful who criticized COVID vaccine mandates dies of virus in California

Update: Kelly Ernby was not vaccinated against COVID-19 when she died, her husband, Axel Mattias Ernby, said in a Facebook post. He clarified his wife’s vaccination status in response to false claims that she died because of the vaccine, The Orange County Register reported.

The original story continues below.

A conservative California prosecutor who previously condemned vaccine mandates died in early January of COVID-19, local media reported.

Kelly Ernby, 46, was the Orange County deputy district attorney and had run for state Assembly in 2020, the Orange County Register reported. During her career, she became a leader within Orange County’s Republican Party, the outlet reported.

District Attorney Todd Spitzer said on Twitter that Ernby’s death was “sudden and unexpected.”

“Her enthusiasm was contagious and she invested every ounce of her enthusiasm into her work,” Spitzer said.

Ernby had previously criticized vaccine mandates, including at a Turning Point USA rally on Dec. 4 at the Irvine City Hall, the Daily Titan, California State University, Fullerton’s student newspaper, reported.

Ernby said at the rally that “there’s nothing that matters more than our freedoms right now,” according to the newspaper.

In another instance, before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Ernby condemned vaccine mandates at an online town hall meeting with Mark Newgent, a former city council candidate in Irvine and another prominent Republican in southern California.

“I don’t think that the government should be involved in mandating what vaccines people are taking,” she said at the event. “Ultimately, we need to be very careful. If the government is going to mandate vaccines, what else will they mandate?”

It’s unknown if Ernby was vaccinated against COVID-19, People reported.

In a Twitter thread, the Republican Party of Orange County called Ernby an “incredible patriot” who “cared about people.”

“While Kelly is no longer with us, her fighting spirit will live on through our entire (O.C. GOP) family,” the party said in a tweet.

Ernby was halfway through a four-year term as an elected Orange County GOP central committee member at the time of her death, The Los Angeles Times said. She was expected to soon announce a run for assembly in the newly drawn coastal 72nd District.

Jon Fleischman, former executive director of the California Republican Party and an Orange County GOP activist, told The Times that Ernby told him she had fallen ill while she was planning her run in the 72nd District, but that her death was “sudden.”

She is survived by her husband, Axel, the Orange County Register reported.

This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Political hopeful who criticized COVID vaccine mandates dies of virus in California."