Five months after South Bay voters elected former County Supervisor Nora Vargas to a second term, they have one last day to vote to decide her replacement after she refused to take the oath of office and vanished from public life. The Registrar of Voters will release the first count of early votes after polls close at 8 p.m.
(If you live in the district in South County, and have not voted yet, here’s a map of vote center locations.)
Seven candidates are in the race to replace Vargas, and four of them currently hold elected office in South County: Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, Chula Vista Councilmember Carolina Chavez, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno.
Click here for in depth coverage of the candidates, including Q&As, policy positions and more.
Lots at stake: The results of this election could end up flipping the County Board of Supervisors from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority. Read more about that here.
Will the tumult in national politics have an impact? In several South Bay neighborhoods, voters supported President Donald Trump more than they had in 2020. Will that shift translate to more support for John McCann, the Republican mayor of Chula Vista, or has the blizzard of big news from Trump’s first few months in office created a backlash?
The spending: Mason Herron has tracked the independent expenditures. Vivian Moreno, the San Diego City Councilmember, has gotten the most help from outside interests. However, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre has the most support from unions and the Democratic Party.
Five UCSD Students Stripped of Visas, Another Deported at Border
UC San Diego is the latest university to have international students’ visas revoked by the U.S. government.
Five international students at UC San Diego had their F-1 visas terminated “without warning” and a sixth student was detained at the border, denied entry and deported to their home country, Chancellor Pradeep Khosla announced in a statement over the weekend.
So far, the federal government hasn’t explained why, Khosla said. But all six students have been instructed to leave the country immediately, according to the UCSD Guardian, the university’s campus newspaper.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order earlier this year allowing the federal government to revoke visas of people who participated in pro-Palestinian protests last year amid Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. That includes international students who protested on college campuses across the United States.
So far, the government has revoked roughly 300 visas of international students across the country, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month.
In Other News
- The San Diego City Council will soon consider more changes to the city’s parking rules including potentially ending free parking on Sundays and charging for parking at Balboa Park. (Union-Tribune)
- Thousands of people marched through downtown San Diego on Saturday as part of a nationwide “Hands Off!” protest against the Trump administration and its policies. (KPBS)
- The 2026 races for two San Diego City Council seats – District 2 and District 8 – are already crowded with several candidates vying for a shot at the council. (Union-Tribune)
- After San Diego police shot and killed 19-year-old Kevin Garcia last week, Garcia’s family members are calling the shooting unjust, saying Garcia was unarmed, despite officers’ initial claim. (Union-Tribune)
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