Obama official Peggy Moore and her wife die in California car crash

A former campaign worker for former President Barack Obama and her wife were killed in a car accident in California last week, according to police.

Peggy Moore, 60, and Hope Wood, 48, were passengers in a Jeep pickup truck that collided with a sedan on Highay 76 near Fallbrook, according to NBC Bay Area.

Both died as a result of the crash.

The 60-year-old driver of the Jeep and the driver of the sedan were also killed in the wreck. A third passenger in the Jeep survived.

Moore was the only victim named by the medical examiner, but tributes online later revealed the names of the other victims killed, including her wife.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee remembered the women in a post on X/Twitter.

She said she was friends with Moore, calling her a “a friend, an activist, and one of the best organisers I knew”.

“Her passion and fight for justice and equality is what brought her and Hope together,” she wrote. “Together they organized, changed hearts and minds, and helped to create a world where who you love doesn’t limit your freedoms.”

She said the women “made an impact on our community, on our city, on our state, and on our nation that will be felt for generations to come”.

“Saddened by the tragic passing of Peggy Moore,” Rusty Hicks, the chair of the California Democratic Party, said in a post on X/Twitter. “She was an incredible political talent & member of Team CADEM who brought a passion for organizing & a commitment to justice every single day.”

Ms Schaff remembered Moore's friendly demeanour and recalled how she would run into people she knew everywhere she went.

“You could not walk anywhere with Peggy without it taking two hours,” Ms Schaff told KRON4. “She knew every person. For her, politics was deeply personal. It was about connecting through our differences. to lift up our shared hopes and just love.”

She shared that people close to the couple took some small comfort in knowing that the women died instantly and that they died together.

“Many of her friends and family are shocked by– somewhat comforted by the idea that they went immediatel,” she said. “That they went instantaneously without pain and that they went together.”

Moore and Wood met while campaigning for the then-presidential candidate Mr Obama in 2008.

In 2019, they together founded the Hope Action Change consultancy and coaching firm, which emphasised diversity and equality.

Moore had previously served as the campaign manager for former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff, and served as a senior adviser in Ms Schaff’s office from 2015 through 2017, according to her LinkedIn page.

She also worked as a general consultant for Diana Betcon’s successful district attorney campaign in Contra Costa County, California.