CA-40: Esther Kim-Varet (D)Calls Opponent's (D) Racist Attacks "Disqualifying Hypocrisy"
February 2, 2026 — COTO DE CAZA, CA — Esther Kim-Varet, the frontrunner Democratic candidate to flip California’s 40th Congressional district, today condemned opposing Democrat Lisa Ramirez (a resident of the Santa Ana gated community Rocking Horse Ridge, in the 47th District) for paying notorious Orange County social media troll, Briana Walker of Mission Viejo, $1,500 to attack the credibility of Kim-Varet and her family with baseless racist slander. These posts, which as of this release are still published on Walker’s X account “@inminivanhell”, do not disclose that Walker was hired by Ramirez.
Ramirez had one week prior published a video moralizing that “voters are tired of politics as usual that too often means negative attacks” and calling on her opponents in the race to refrain from “shaming and name calling.”
According to a newly filed FEC disclosure, the Lisa Ramirez campaign committee paid Walker $1,500 for “communications consulting.” Walker is a notorious Orange County social media personality who has previously been hired as an “astroturfing” antagonist by other OC candidates, and who repeatedly attacked the prevailing Democratic candidate (defeated by Rep. Young Kim) in CA-40’s 2024 general election. Walker also courted controversy during the 2024 cycle by insisting (while on the payroll of his Democratic opponent’s campaign) that then-State Senator Dave Min shouldn’t take credit for banning gun shows at the OC Fairgrounds, despite the fact that Min (who like Kim-Varet is Korean-American) had authored the legislation. Ramirez (whose own X account has 230 followers) sought to surreptitiously utilize the reach of Walker’s 15,000 X followers in order to boost her local reputation and undermine Kim-Varet’s credibility.
Last Monday, Walker posted a screenshot and comment defaming Esther Kim-Varet as insensitive to the LGBTQ community for posing with the Chick-Fil-A mascot at a 5K charity walk. However, Walker’s absurd claims were entirely baseless as the screenshot she posted as evidence is from the account of an entirely different and unrelated Esther Kim. Despite her paid mandate to harass and discredit Esther Kim-Varet, Walker apparently could not differentiate the photos of another Korean-American woman.
https://theliberaloc.com/2026/02/04/ca-40-candidate-esther-kim-varet-calls-opponents-use-of-campaign-funds-to-commission-slanderous-racist-attacks-disqualifying-hypocrisy/
