Randy Greg Voepel (born September 21, 1950) is an American politician. He served in the city government of

Santee, California Santee is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 60,037 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the East County region. The city is bisected by the San Diego River, a linear greenbelt that includes parks, trails ...

, and in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

from the 71st district. He was the vice-chair of the Veterans Affairs, Aging & Long-Term Care, and Public Employment & Retirement committees and a member of the Insurance, Local Government, and Joint Legislative Audit committees. Voepel lost his reelection bid in the 2022 California State Assembly election, with his term ending on December 6, 2022.

Early life

On September 21, 1950, Voepel was born in

Saint Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 70,493 at the 2020 census, making St. Charles the ninth-most populous city in Missouri. Situa ...

. In August 1969, Voepel enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, Voepel served on the USS ''Buchanan'', a guided-missile destroyer. Voepel received the

Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) is a United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or surface combat." Coast ...

and military awards.

Career

In 1996, Voepel became a member of the Santee City Council. In 2000, Voepel became the Mayor of Santee until 2016. On November 8, 2016, Voepel won the election and became a Republican member of

for District 71, encompassing most of inland

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

and part of

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...

. In 2022, redistricting would have placed him into a new district with another member of the state Assembly, Marie Waldron, but Voepel lost by a wide margin.

Comments on January 6th

Following the

January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...

, Voepel said, "This is Lexington and Concord. First shots fired against tyranny. Tyranny will follow in the aftermath of the Biden swear-in on January 20th."

Electoral history

2020 California State Assembly

2018 California State Assembly

2016 California State Assembly

Awards

* Combat Action Ribbon * Vietnam Cross Gallantry

Personal life

Voepel was formerly married to Pamela Palmer. He is now married to Susan. He has two adult children. His grandson perpetrated the 2022 Colorado Springs nightclub shooting. His former son-in-law was Aaron Brink, a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

fighter and

pornographic film actor A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic film. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinc ...

. Voepel and his wife live in

References

External links

*
Campaign website

Randy Voepel at ballotpedia.org

Join California Randy Voepel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voepel, Randy 1950 births Living people 20th-century California politicians United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War California city council members California Republicans Mayors of places in California Republican Party members of the California State Assembly People from Santee, California People from St. Charles, Missouri 21st-century members of the California State Legislature