Felony guilty pleas, a state suspension of the company they ran and a pledge by the San Diego County Democratic Party chair to ban the firm from future business might normally spell the end for any political consultant.
But that simple maxim may not apply to Jesus and Andrea Cardenas, the brother-and-sister co-defendants who admitted in Superior Court last week that they stole more than $176,000 from state and federal taxpayers.
While a political comeback appears unlikely for Andrea Cardenas, who quit the Chula Vista City Council before pleading guilty to grand theft charges, she and her older brother may still wield influence in elections and public policy behind the scenes.
Even after Andrea Cardenas was charged with seven felonies, for example, a new political committee spent tens of thousands of dollars supporting her re-election and attacking her main rival, campaign disclosures show.
“That’s how politics works — on relationships and trust,” said Lori Saldana, a retired educator and three-term state legislator who now serves on the San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee. “If you break relationships with people, even for good cause, then others don’t trust you.”
More contributions continue to be made on behalf of incumbent office holders who were clients of Grassroots Resources, Jesus Cardenas’ political consulting firm that was suspended by the California Franchise Tax Board two-plus years ago. It is unclear whether Jesus Cardenas is directing political work.
Neither Jesus nor Andrea Cardenas responded to requests for comment about their future in political consulting. But others were not shy about predicting that the Cardenases would remain key players in local elections.
After years of winning campaigns, and playing fast and loose with the rules governing elections and conflicts of interest, Jesus and Andrea Cardenas were charged with a combined 12 criminal counts last November.
Prosecutors said the pair illegally applied for and collected $176,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funds, then spent the money on personal expenses, credit card payments and campaign debt.
The siblings denied all charges at an arraignment late last year; Andrea Cardenas skipped a handful of City Council meetings before asking the community to give her a chance to redeem herself — and to re-elect her.
But two weeks ago, the District Attorney’s Office added criminal charges to the initial complaint, accusing the Cardenases of illegally collecting state Employment Development Department benefits.
Last week, they both pleaded guilty to two grand theft charges, one related to the state unemployment charge, the other to the federal paycheck program. They appear likely to receive probation.
The deal approved by District Attorney Summer Stephan calls for both defendants to pay some amount of restitution and complete probation terms. But the punishments appear unlikely to include any jail time or prohibit the defendants from continuing to participate in local politics.
Andrea Cardenas will be allowed to argue for a misdemeanor reduction at her sentencing in August, while her brother will not unless he completes a two-year probation.
“The terms have yet to be ordered, but the law requires they be rationally related to the crimes for which the defendants are convicted,” District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Steve Walker said by email.
“The terms and conditions of their sentences will be determined at the sentencing hearings,” he said. “The People will be filing a sentencing brief laying out our legally supported position.”
The idea of either Cardenas continuing to influence local elections does not sit well with Russ Hall, a longtime Chula Vista resident and former city commissioner who called on Andrea Cardenas to resign as soon as she was indicted.
“A lot of people in Chula Vista are frustrated and feeling a little bit betrayed,” Hall said. “We’re wondering how this (plea agreement) will change anything. It is a concern that (the Cardenases) will now know what not to do with their political consulting. It’s a real blow to those of us who have worked hard to try and push for change.”
According to the criminal complaint filed Nov. 1, Jesus and Andrea Cardenas lied on a U.S. Small Business Administration loan application, falsely claiming that Grassroots Resources had 34 employees. In fact, the workers cited in the Paycheck Protection Program worked for a San Diego marijuana dispensary called Harbor Collective, prosecutors said.
It remains unclear if the dispensary owners knew about or participated in the scheme, or how the Cardenases secured the names and payroll information needed to complete the federal loan application.
Grassroots Resources has been one of the biggest fundraisers for the county Democratic Party for years, a status that gave Jesus Cardenas major influence on party endorsements. Andrea Cardenas, for example, was endorsed for re-election last fall — before she was charged — even though it was broadly known she and her brother were under criminal investigation.
The consulting firm was suspended by state tax officials in January 2022, presumably for failing to pay taxes.
The designation means the company is not legally permitted to operate in California, but that did not stop Jesus Cardenas from continuing to do business. According to Democratic Party filings, the company was paid at least $205,000 for digital ads ahead of the 2022 election.
Rebecca Taylor, the San Diego County Democratic Party chair, said as recently as last week that Grassroots Resources was banned from working for the party.
But Margin Victories, created by Jehoan Espinoza, a long-time protege and former Jesus Cardenas employee, has taken over much of the business done by Grassroots Resources.
The company, whose address is a UPS Store in Allied Gardens, began raising and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at the same time Andrea Cardenas was elected to the Chula Vista council and her brother was appointed chief of staff to San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn.
Jesus Cardenas operated Grassroots Resources while also running Whitburn’s council office, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported in 2022. Whitburn promoted changes to city marijuana rules at the same time Cardenas collected tens of thousands of dollars from pot industry clients, the paper reported last year.
Espinoza said he built his company without any help or benefit from Jesus Cardenas, even though multiple sources told The San Diego Union-Tribune that Margin Victories was operating as a pass-through between Grassroots Resources and the county Democratic Party.
JE Strategies, the parent company to Margin Victories, is associated with the San Diego Democratic Leadership PAC, which spent more than $10,000 to promote Andrea Cardenas’ District 4 re-election even after she was criminally charged, records show.
The committee also spent $10,000-plus attacking the campaign of Cesar Fernandez, who is one of four others running for District 4.
In an email Friday, Espinoza said he was “not currently working with the San Diego Democratic Party, Grassroots Resources or its affiliates, or the San Diego Leadership PAC.”
His cellphone number is associated with managing the political committee’s Facebook page, which launched four ads last month in support of Andrea Cardenas’ re-election and against Fernandez. Espinoza said he used to work for the PAC, but declined to say whether he made efforts to disassociate himself from the committee.
What’s more, JE Strategies is directing hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending on campaign mailers from the San Diego Labor Coalition, according to election filings.
Those mailers are problematic because they include recommendations for candidates on the county Democratic Central Committee, which is supposed to remain neutral in the races for seats on the panel.
The mailers also promote some candidates and policies that oppose some party endorsements and policy positions.
Nadia Kean Ayub, a Chula Vista commissioner and president of the Eastlake-Bonita Democratic Club, said she fears those mailers may be part of a plan to slip allies of the Cardenases on the panel so that “(Jesus Cardenas) can step right back in and take over.”
“If the party doesn’t stand strong, then they need new leadership,” she added.
Former Chula Vista Councilmember Mike Diaz said he is bothered by the prospect of Jesus and Andrea Cardenas continuing to exert influence over city politics.
“They created this model where they have the ability to pour tons of money into campaigns,” said Diaz, who lost his re-election bid in 2020 to Andrea Cardenas. “They are very powerful and influential in the county, and I think they felt they could get away with whatever.”
Carl Luna, a Mesa College political science professor, said there is a well-worn road map to redemption for political players who have fallen from grace and he expects Jesus Cardenas is no exception.
“He can continue to wield influence behind the scenes, but not probably working in or near an elected office,” he said. “The question future clients would have to ask is, do they want to work with somebody who did what he did?”
