Late last night I got a call from a very excited Mike Aguirre. He had just won the endorsement from the San Diego Democratic Club, a group that advocates for fairness and equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and which backed Scott Peters’ run against Aguirre in June’s primary election.
I talked to Aguirre again this morning and he said the endorsement is a huge move forward in his effort to corral supporters who backed his run for city attorney in 2004.
“We’re attempting to mobilize the coalition who supported me in 2004 and last night was a very important step,” he said.
It would have, however, been pretty surprising if Aguirre’s challenger, Jan Goldsmith, had won over the Democratic crowd.
Though he has run on a platform of non-partisanship, Goldsmith is a conservative who has previously held political office as a Republican.
Aguirre said he is going to win more and more support from Democrats and moderate Republicans as more people learn about Goldsmith’s conservative political record. He accused his opponent of “speaking out of both sides of his mouth.”
“Last night he tried to talk like Jimmy Hoffa and say that he’s pro-labor, but nobody was buying it,” Aguirre said.
I gave Goldsmith a call. No word back yet.
On another note, I know that Council President Scott Peters, who won endorsements from much of the local Democratic establishment in the primary election, has spoken with both Aguirre and Goldsmith in recent weeks. I have called Peters several times to ask his opinion on the ongoing race and to see if he’s going to endorse either of the candidates.
He hasn’t called back once.