Conservative and divisive Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is not coming to the Bay Area any time soon.
Greene, best known for her dissemination of conspiracy theories, was set to appear this weekend at the San Francisco Republican Party’s annual dinner, but canceled last minute.
She was concerned over being able to make it due to two Democratic infrastructure bills making their way through the legislative process this week, with a vote likely to go late into Friday or even the weekend, according to John Dennis, the San Francisco Republican Party Chairman.
"We were excited about the event, it was going to sell out," he said. But over last weekend, Dennis received a call from Greene’s campaign alerting him to the issue, and then on Monday her chief of staff confirmed that her office "just didn’t feel comfortable that they can guarantee that she could make it."
It was disappointing to many of the event’s would-be attendees, he said. "She’s got a really strong following," said Dennis. "Lot of people like her, like to see a strong Republican woman get a fair shake."
She was such a big draw for the event that they had people from Sacramento to as far as San Diego buying tables in the hopes of attending.
Not everyone in the group was thrilled about Greene’s speaking at the event though, said Dennis. "She's a little more controversial than speakers we’ve had," he said in an interview with KCBS Radio earlier this month.
Before asking Greene, the party asked other speakers, including Larry Elder, to attend. According to Dennis, about 15% of those deciding on the speaker didn’t want to choose Greene, but the majority ruled.
The dinner was already drawing attention because of the secrecy surrounding the location. In order to avoid San Francisco County’s vaccine mandate for indoor public places, as Greene refuses to disclose her vaccination status, the event was most likely going to take place somewhere in San Mateo County.
Organizers also planned to keep the exact location a secret until 48 hours before the event in order to prevent any possible protests or demonstrations.
In last month’s interview, Dennis anticipated anywhere from 175 to 300 people to attend. Tickets ranged in price from $400 to $175.
Instead of scrambling to find a new speaker for Saturday’s dinner, the Republican Party decided it was better to just cancel and find a new date to reschedule that worked for both party’s schedules.
Since it’s so close to the holidays, it’s likely the new date won’t be until the new year.
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