The latest count of votes Tuesday night had Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre with an insurmountable lead Tuesday evening in the race to fill a vacant South County seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
Aguirre had a six-point lead over her opponent, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann as of 11 p.m.
It’s done: The county reported 9,500 votes left to count Tuesday night. Aguirre held a lead of 4,519 votes. McCann would need more than 7,000 of the remaining votes to go his way, or 73.8 percent of them. The count reported so far had him getting just more than 46 percent of the counted votes.
That means Aguirre, a Democrat, is on track to become the next County Supervisor representing South San Diego County’s 640,000 residents.
“I’m incredibly grateful,” Aguirre said in a brief interview at a raucous election night party at Novo Brazil brewery in Imperial Beach. “It’s early but results are looking favorable.”
If elected, Aguirre said she was eager to get to work fast-tracking a five-point plan she recently advanced to resolve the ongoing sewage crisis in the Tijuana River. She said she also would seek to shield San Diego residents from the effects of anticipated federal budget cuts to healthcare and social service spending.
“I’m fighting for immigrants, workers, people working hard to put their kids through school and put food on the table,” she said.
McCann, attending his own watch party at a restaurant in Otay Ranch, said he was monitoring results and was not ready to concede the race.
“This is the first of many [election] returns,” he said in a statement shortly after results were announced. “We feel like we are in a competitive position. My campaign was always about making life more affordable, reducing homelessness and fighting taxes. I’m proud we pushed hard on all those fronts and I will continue to deliver on each of those issues.”
Though ballots remained to be counted, a who’s who of San Diego Democratic and union politics celebrated what they believed to be an imminent victory at Aguirre’s watch party on Tuesday, chanting, “Si, se puede!” and “Paloma! Paloma!”
“I’m very excited,” said District 4 Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe. “This is encouraging and gives us hope after today’s Senate vote on Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. We have the best chance of providing a barrier for the residents of San Diego County against the actions of the federal government.”
Aguirre sounded a triumphant note in a speech to supporters. “This was a collective, people-powered movement, and we’re just getting started,” she said. “We’re done with a county government that doesn’t represent our community.”
Well goodbye to your rainy day fund and likely a tax increase. Congrats.
No thanks to Hinch’s reporting on this race, ugh.