Suzanne Hess is a graduate of UCLA and a retired former supervising librarian at the San Diego County Library. She is a major donor to primarily left-of-center Democratic Party candidates and causes.¹

In 2016, she and her husband Lawrence Hess gave more than $350,000 to mostly Democratic Party candidates. ² In 2010, the couple was credited with having given $130,000 to the super PACs Progressive Kick and America’s Families First Action Fund, in addition to $294,000 to Democratic Party candidates.³ She is a board member of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group that most notably favors stricter regulations on foods and beverages.⁴

Background

Suzanne Hess is a former librarian and nutritionist who is married to Lawrence Hess, a real estate businessman and philanthropist with left-of-center leanings. She and her husband moved to San Diego in 1975. Suzanne earned her master’s degree in library science from UCLA and dedicated two decades of her career to working for San Diego County as a supervising librarian. ⁴

She is a major donor to primarily left-of-center Democratic Party candidates and causes.¹ In 2010, according to Politico, Suzanne and her husband attended a donor conference organized by the Democracy Alliance (DA), a collective of left-of-center donors that has been active in orchestrating “the activities of a permanent ‘left infrastructure’ since 2004.⁵ In 2016, she and her husband Lawrence Hess gave more than $350,000 to mostly Democratic Party candidates. ² In 2010, the couple was credited with having given $130,000 to the super PACs Progressive Kick and America’s Families First Action Fund, in addition to $294,000 to Democratic Party candidates. ³

Suzanne Hess was a trustee for the San Diego Repertory Theatre, which produces world premieres and contemporary plays. San Diego Repertory Theatre, in a letter following the 2020 George Floyd protests, advocated in support of left-of-center organizations including Black Lives Matter, Activist San Diego, Racial Justice Coalition of San Diego (which helps organize protests and supports efforts to defund police), Anti Police-Terror Project (a Black-led group that documents police abuse and connects impacted community members with legal and other left-wing resources that began as a project of the ONYX Organizing committee), Black Visions Collective (a Minneapolis-based group seeking to defund the police and invest in community safety), and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in a letter signed by all trustees and management. ^{6 7 8}

San Diego Repertory Theatre closed in June 2022 due to financial challenges and filed for bankruptcy, citing a $2 million debt. ⁹

Campaign Contributions

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) database, Suzanne Hess has made donations to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ($100,000+), Women Vote! ($15,000), Democratic National Committee ($24,000), League of Conservation Voters Action Fund ($50,000), San Diego Democratic Party ($46,000), Emily’s List ($20,000), Progressive Change Campaign Committee ($25,000), and Voices for Progress PAC ($55,000), among other left-of-center groups.¹⁰

1. “Suzanne Hess – LinkedIn.” Accessed June 15, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-hess-b8a40113.
2. Payton, Mari, and Ron Campbell. “Most of CA Campaign Giving Went To Out-Of-State & Presidential Candidates.” NBC 7 San Diego. NBC San Diego, September 15, 2016. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/investigations/nearly-70-of-ca-campaign-giving-went-to-out-of-state-presidential-candidates/107847/.
3. Hargrove, Dorian. “Lawrence and Suzanne Hess Gave $294,000 in Political Donations.” San Diego Reader. Accessed June 15, 2020. https://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/news-ticker/2012/may/16/lawrence-and-suzanne-hess-give-294000-in-political/.
4. “Suzanne Hess.” Center for Science in the Public Interest, February 23, 2022. https://www.cspinet.org/biography/suzanne-hess.
5. “Crashing Big Dem Donors’ Meeting.” POLITICO. Accessed June 22, 2023. https://www.politico.com/story/2010/11/crashing-big-dem-donors-meeting-045260
6. “Black Visions Collective.” Accessed June 15, 2020. https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/.
7. “About APTP.” Accessed June 15, 2020. https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/about-aptp.
8. “Racial Justice Coalition of San Diego.” Accessed June 15, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/RacialJusticeCoalitionofSanDiego.org/
9. Kragen San, Pam. “San Diego Repertory Theatre to Suspend Operations after 46 Years.” Del Mar Times, June 9, 2022. https://www.delmartimes.net/art/story/2022-06-09/san-diego-repertory-theatre-to-suspend-operations-after-46-years
10. “Hess, Suzanne.” Federal Election Commission (FEC). Accessed November 2, 2023. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=suzanne+hess.