A deadly head-on crash near Fallbrook on Friday night has taken the life of two prominent Bay Area political figures. Friends say Hope Wood and Peggy Moore left this life like they lived it.
“These were two almost twin flames that couldn't bear to be apart in this life or in the other, and they really just had to be together when they left,” their friend Kimberly Ellis said.
Wood and Moore were celebrated during a vigil on Sunday.
According to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office, Wood was killed Friday night on the 76 freeway near Horse Ranch Creek Road in a three-car crash. Friends say her wife Moore was with her.
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CHP says a car crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed head-on into the Jeep they were passengers in.
“It’s an incredible loss, not just in the professional political world, but in our personal world as well,” Ellis said.
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Ellis called Moore a "giant" in political circles and says she has helped people like former President Barack Obama.
“She was the one that helped to win the Golden State for him. She helped on the first Hilary Clinton campaign. Any campaign that really had to have a top-notch organizing strategy, they went to Peggy," Ellis said.
Brendalynn Goodall knows that all too well, after Moore worked as her campaign manager to help her win a seat on the Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee.
“She was a visionary, and she was an organizer. I mean, just missing the love, missing her smile, missing the joy,” Goodall said.
Moore and Wood's political prowess was also recognized by U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee in a social media post. Lee noted that their passion and fight for social justice brought Moore and Wood together and that their impact would be felt for generations to come.
“There’s a phrase ‘the life of the party.’ But Peggy and Hope weren’t just the life. They were the party. It was a party built of community, inclusivity and love,” the couple's friend Jeff Harry said in an Instagram post.
That love is now being reciprocated as friends mourn their loss and celebrate their lives.
The man driving Moore and Wood was also killed in the crash, as was the person driving the car that hit them head-on, according to CHP.
