Journalism won’t die if you donate. Support Voice of San Diego today!
My new pals over at Fox 5 San Diego had me on last night and this morning to talk about the mayor’s race. Fortunately, my appearances this morning overlapped with those of the two candidates squaring off in the November general election: Carl DeMaio and Bob Filner.
Their interviews Wednesday morning provided one of the first looks at one of the most significant issues I’ll be tracking through November: How they move to the middle. The major theme of my Election Night coverage was that DeMaio and Filner represent a major change in city mayoral elections. San Diegans, at least since Pete Wilson in the 1970s, have elected moderate mayors. DeMaio and Filner, who drew their strength from their partisan backgrounds, don’t fit the mold. That means the next mayor won’t be a moderate. But there’s a swath of middle-of-the-road voters out there now looking for their guy.
Filner went first. He said he would be an optimistic, future-looking candidate and talk about jobs, the environment, public transit, schools and neighborhoods.
“Mayor [Jerry] Sanders called Carl a candidate of doom and gloom,” Filner said. “Well, I’m going to be the mayor that creates neighborhood bloom and economic boom.”
Here’s a link to the entire Filner interview.
Then came DeMaio. He repeated many of the same themes that he did in his victory speech Tuesday night.
“I want to bring San Diegans together,” DeMaio said. “We have a positive vision for our future that involves environmental protection, job creation, fixing our roads, restoring our services, getting our school reform in place so all children have equal opportunity to pursue their dreams. These are issues that unite rather than divide.”
Here’s a link to the entire DeMaio interview.
And if you want more mayoral insight and are of the video persuasion, here’s my take on Fox this morning along with San Diego State University professor Ric Epps.
Liam Dillon is a news reporter for Voice of San Diego. He covers San Diego City Hall, the 2012 mayor’s race and big building projects. What should he write about next?
Please contact him directly at liam.dillon@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5663.
Like VOSD on Facebook.