Dillan Horton Becomes the First Candidate for Davis City Council

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In what figures to be another packed ballot, Dillan Horton has thrown his name into the hat for Davis City Council.  Dillan Horton is a former student government leader, a longtime campaign organizer, and a local Democratic Party leader. Dillan is also Vice Chair of the Davis Police Accountability Commission, and now a candidate for Davis City Council.

“Over the last few months I’ve talked to Davis residents from all walks of life. I’ve talked to parents, labor activists, artists, seniors, environmentalists, students, small business owners, mental healthcare advocates, and what I’ve walked away with is people in Davis want their government to fight for them,” Dillan Horton said in a statement sent to the media on Saturday evening.

He continued: “Parents bearing the burden of childcare want their government to support them, business owners want their concerns addressed, and residents coping with our housing crisis want a government that understands this struggle.”

Mr. Horton added: “I’m running for Davis City Council to use my experience in organizing and advocacy for the benefit of Davis. I want to improve the city’s outreach, so we can all move forward together. I want to use my experience focusing on accessibility issues to make sure those most in need are supported by the city.

“I understand how urgently we need to address the issues of economic development and access to quality affordable housing, and I will devote every ounce of myself to tackling these issues head on.”

It could be a crowded field again for March 2020 as three incumbents are up for reelection – Lucas Frerichs, Brett Lee, and Will Arnold.  In addition, several candidates who ran in the last election may well run again.

Dillan Horton transferred to UC Davis from El Camino College and got involved in student government with ASUCD.

According to his campaign biography, he was the Director of University Affairs, responsible for representing students with the UC administration.

“During this term Dillan worked to oppose tuition hikes, to strengthen student participation on campus committees, and to better coordinate ASUCD’s advocacy efforts. Working with the executive office, the Senate, and the relevant commissions Dillan authored legislation to combine the three existing advocacy units into the Office of Advocacy & Student Representation to better coordinate student advocacy,” his biography states.

During the 2016 General Election, he became a summer Organizing Fellow for the Clinton campaign. In the fall Dillan was hired to organize Clinton campaign efforts on behalf of the Yolo County Democratic Party – he organized phone banks, canvassing trips to Nevada, and debate watch parties.

Since the January 2017 Democratic Party elections he has served as a California Democratic Party Delegate representing Assembly District 4, Chair of the Yolo County Democratic Party Legislation & Resolutions Committee, and as Vice Chair of the Yolo County Democratic Party.

In December 2018 he was appointed by the Davis City Council to the newly-formed Police Accountability Commission. At the commission’s first meeting he was elected as Vice Chair of the commission.

His biography states: “As a member of the commission Dillan is working to improve police training in implicit bias and de-escalation, to inform the community about the complaint process, and to make sure police department polices match the community’s values.”

Dillan Horton also served on the Vanguard Editorial Board from 2018 until May 11, 2019.  He resigned effective May 11, stating, “I’ve been an advocate and an organizer for all of my adult life and in this time of need in our community I have decided to run for Davis City Council. Engaging in this campaign will give me somehow less time for the Vanguard.”

—David M. Greenwald reporting


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About The Author

David Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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8 thoughts on “Dillan Horton Becomes the First Candidate for Davis City Council”

  1. Rik Keller

    Fact check: Dillan is the not the first candidate to file papers with the City to open a campaign committee. One other new candidate has, and at least two other current Council members have already filed to keep their committees open.

    Also, this article doesn’t say anything about Dillan’s membership on the Vanguard Board of Directors and when/if he resigned that position.

    1. Craig Ross

      Rik is factually wrong on both points.  The filing papers aren’t until three months prior to the election.  Dillan is the first to publicly announce unless I missed something.

      The last paragraph states that Dillan resigned from the board effective May 11.

    2. Don Shor

      Also, this article doesn’t say anything about Dillan’s membership on the Vanguard Board of Directors and when/if he resigned that position.

      From the article:

      Dillan Horton also served on the Vanguard Editorial Board from 2018 until May 11, 2019.  He resigned effective May 11….

       

  2. David Greenwald

    I got a few notes and I see Craig’s post.  Unless someone makes an announcement that they are running and sends out a press release to the paper and/ or Vanguard, we’re not considering it officially announced.  I understand that a few potential candidates have taken out financial papers and are raising some early money.  But until we get the announcement, we’re not counting them as in.  Hope that clarifies things.

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