Jin Hymers is running a slick campaign for one of the 3 open seats in La Canada Unified. At first glance, her campaign lit seems innocuous. Who doesn't support "academic excellence" and a "brighter future" for all kids? Soothing pastels and neutral, inclusive language abound!
However, few searches reveals some odd facts about Jin Hymers and her spouse, Robert Leslie Hymers. (Ed: Leslie attempted to take down most of his personal website within 24 hours of our post; but the internet is FOREVER and he is bad at it).
Why would a person who has recently moved to La Canada decide to run for School Board against 2 incumbents? Do her kids even go to LCUSD schools? (Jin donated generously to Saint James Episcopal School). Let's take a closer look at Jin Hymers and her connections.
1) Both Jin and Robert Leslie Hymers are alternate delegates for the California GOP, which (possibly/likely) means they support the party platform (Project 2025) and all of its attacks on public education and LGBTQ+ kids. Earlier this year, the Hymers hosted a meet and greet for GOP Congressional candidate April Verlato. Leslie Hymers features a photo of him with Donald Trump on his website's gallery.
2) Robert Leslie Hymers III, Jin's spouse, is the son of Dr. RL Hymers, Jr, a conservative Baptist pastor (born in...Glendale.)
Based on public campaign filings, Jin Hymers' husband has loaned a whopping $57,000 to Jin Hymers' campaign for school board in a district that has just 5 schools and 3500 students. This is not a normal amount of money for a small race.
Campaign filings reveal that Jin Hymers has outsourced canvassing to consultants at Red Dog Strategies (which appears to be based in Newport Beach) paying over $17,000 for canvassers.
Let us repeat that: a first-time candidate who moved to La Canada 2 years ago is spending nearly $20,000 on PAID CANVASSING FOR A TINY SCHOOL BOARD RACE.
Jin and Leslie also serve on the Hymers Family Foundation for Arts and Education, which has over $500,000 in assets but reported no revenue or expenses for available tax years. Jin Hymers notes that she is the organization's Treasurer on her campaign materials.
As we noted earlier, Robert Leslie Hymers is the son of Dr. RL Hymers Jr. (Jin's father-in-law), a pastor who led a church that had allegations of abuse before shutting it down and moving on to establish new fundamentalist Baptist congregations, including the one he leads to day and of which Jin and her family appear to be prominent members.
3) Jin and Robert Hymers III are currently members of Dr. RL Hymers' Jr.'s newest church, the Baptist Tabernacle. The church's website notes that he is a "premillennial dispensationalist." Dispensational premillennialists believe that the second coming of Christ, and subsequent establishment of the millennial kingdom, is to be preceded by a seven-year-long period known as the “Tribulation,” the earthly activity of the Antichrist as well as the outpouring of God’s wrath on mankind. (ED: You can read some of Hymers Jr's sermons on his sermon page).
To conclude: We know little about her, but what we do know is troubling. Jin Kim Hymers seems to be possibly aligned with the project 2025 extremist agenda, as well as a prominent member of a church led by her father-in-law that preaches conversion no matter what. Her campaign finances are shady, and her campaign materials are vague. This is a very similar playbook to Aneta Krpekyan and Jordan Henry.
LCUSD has 2 extremely qualified incumbents - Josh Epstein and Caroline Anderson - running to keep their seats.