Dominic Foppoli’s name is once again on the lips of locals, as news has arrived of his return to the streets of Windsor. What’s more, this notorious 42-year-old Healdsburg winery bro and former Windsor mayor — who resigned in 2021 and moved to Italy with his fiancee, where his family reportedly owns a 1,000-year-old castle, after an avalanche of sex-abuse allegations came out against him — told the Press Democrat earlier this month that he plans to move back to Windsor for good. What’s more, he might even run for Windsor mayor again in 2026. I kid you not!
If you’re wondering how the people of Windsor feel about his big announcement, or at least a subset of them, this Nextdoor thread might get you started. Anyway, here’s what we know so far, from the pages of the PD:
Dominic Foppoli, the former Windsor mayor accused of sexual misconduct by at least nine women in three different civil lawsuits, says he is moving back to the northern Sonoma County town permanently and is considering a bid for mayor next year.
In an email to The Press Democrat, Foppoli said his focus for the rest of the year is “starting a family, fully moving back to Windsor and winning decisively and completely in civil court.”
He also said he would “consider accepting a call to run” for mayor next year.
“The truth is that it’s sad to see what has happened to our beautiful town since I left office” in May 2021, said the recently married Foppoli, who has been splitting his time between homes in Italy and Windsor. “If the town continues to fall down this terrible path, with the support of my family, I will seriously consider accepting a call to run next year.
Dominic Foppoli also tells the paper that he’s had “countless Windsor residents in the last few months ask me to consider coming back to my role as mayor in next year’s election.” The town’s current mayor through November 2026, Rosa Reynoza, expressed her disgust in a followup interview with the PD. She said: “ I hate — and I don’t use this term often — that his face and name are back in the headlines. The trauma that this is causing so many women and families is simply unimaginable.”
For background, Dominic Foppoli — son of the Christopher Creek Winery family, whose tasting room is on Limerick Lane in Healdsburg — has been accused by at least nine women of leveraging his status to get them into situations where he could sexually assault and abuse them. One of his accusers was reality TV star Farrah Abraham, who claimed Dominic drugged and sexually assaulted her a wine-tasting event in Florida circa 2021. “I went through some of the darkest times in my life when this happened,” she said at a press conference last year. “If nothing is done, a rapist will repeat their behavior.”
Dominic’s other accusers include one of his young campaign volunteers and a former colleague on the Windsor Town Council, both of whom claim he raped them at parties.
The Christopher Creek Winery name has also been sullied by all this, of course — especially since some of Dominic’s alleged behavior took place on winery grounds, according to his accusers. Dominic’s brother, Joe Foppoli, even filed a separate lawsuit against Dominic and Christopher Creek last year, claiming he was pushed out for questioning how the company was managing its finances — then quietly later removed Dominic’s name from the suit, according to the PD.
Last bit of background tea for you, then I’ll let this one rest for now: The Los Angeles Times ran a fascinating media-insider story in 2021 about the former Press Democrat reporter who, shut down by her editors after bringing them the allegations against Dominic Foppoli, quit and took them to her new job at the San Francisco Chronicle, where she broke the story and owned the ongoing coverage — causing a wave of outrage toward the PD, and much internal newsroom turmoil, too. The title of the LA Times piece says it all: “In wine country, a newspaper war brings down a mayoral ‘prince’ accused of sex abuse.” Kinda writes itself!
Note from Simone: This piece originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Healdsburg Tribune, called Healdsburg Today. Subscribe here!
