San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera at the San Diego County Democratic Party's Election Party at the Westin Hotel in downtown San Diego, California on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. / Photo by Vito di Stefano for Voice of San Diego
San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera at the San Diego County Democratic Party's Election Party at the Westin Hotel in downtown San Diego, California on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. / Photo by Vito di Stefano for Voice of San Diego

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San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera was on the podcast this week to discuss the election results and the city’s future. A lot of people thought he was the most vulnerable City Council incumbent on the ballot but he ended up winning with almost 61 percent of voters supporting him.

But he did break some news: He’s not running to be Council president again. He had won three straight Council president votes among his colleagues but now he wants to hand it off to someone else.

“Three years is a good run — unorthodox to do it for three years. We’ve got multiple folks who are ready to step into that position and do it well,” he told us.

Who’s in contention: It appears to be a race between Councilmembers Joe LaCava and Kent Lee. But who knows how these things go.

One hallmark: Elo-Rivera was often willing to put up votes where he was on the losing side. Most significantly, he allowed a vote on the mayor’s camping ban that he ultimately voted no on. If an issue like that has enough support on Council, four members can force a vote on it. But he did not seem to mind letting proposals he did not support go forward through his office.

Listen to the full conversation with Elo-Rivera here:

Scott Lewis oversees Voice of San Diego’s operations, website and daily functions as Editor in Chief. He also writes about local politics, where he frequently...

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