In the lead-up to next Tuesday’s election, millions of dollars have been pouring into local campaigns.
We teamed up with our Public Matters partners at KPBS to come up with a list of this campaign season’s top donors and spenders.
Among the top political spenders: the California Democratic Party, Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio’s campaign committee and the campaign behind Measure B, a proposed countywide sales tax increase.
Among the top donors: the Laborers International Union of North America Local 89 PAC, the California Association of Realtors and Sharp HealthCare.
More on Measure B: Our Lisa Halverstadt listed the top donors behind Measure B, which aims to fund health care, Tijuana sewage solutions and more.
ICYMI: You can also catch up on the fine print on the measure here. We’ve also got a great, no B.S. guide to many more ballot items and candidates in our voter guide. Check that out here.
Understanding a Council Candidate’s Interactions with Police
For some time now, people on social media have been accusing San Diego City Council candidate Martha Abraham of using police and the justice system to “terrorize” her neighbors.
Abraham is running against Councilmember Henry Foster. She denies these claims.
One post took the candidate’s slogan of “People first, always” and changed it to read, “Calling the cops on people first, always.”
Our reporters dug into the available evidence.
Abraham has had disputes with two different neighbors and has made calls to police. But there isn’t any clear evidence suggesting Abraham used the police to terrorize her neighbors. Two community members came to her defense and one said a man she was seeking a restraining order against was “mean” and “not a good neighbor.”
Here’s what our reporters found.
Inside San Diego’s Growing Democratic Socialist Movement
In the past two years, membership in San Diego’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter has nearly tripled. What’s less clear is whether the movement can develop the political firepower to deliver electoral wins a la New York City’s Zohran Mamdani.
Our Jakob McWhinney explored the current political winds within San Diego’s DSA movement, its history and tensions with the local Democratic Party. McWhinney also spoke with members about what could be next, including DSA member and possible San Diego 2028 mayoral candidate Sean Elo-Rivera.
Congress Could Give San Diego More Say Over a Data Center
San Diego’s Congressional Democrats announced Thursday that they’ll introduce legislation to require local support of a controversial data center before it could be built on federal land downtown.
Right now, San Diego definitely does not support such a project.
Our MacKenzie Elmer revealed earlier this month that Manchester Financial Group was mulling a 400-megawatt data center on Navy land called NAVWAR. That triggered outrage from the community and the San Diego City Council passed an emergency ban on data centers on Tuesday (though that ban wouldn’t apply to federal land).
By Thursday, Reps. Sara Jacobs, Scott Peters, Mike Levin and Juan Vargas announced their bill.
Elo-Rivera: SDPD Flouting Required Notification of Presence at ICE Raids
In a social media post, San Diego Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera accused the police department’s leadership of flouting a city law meant to inform the public about instances in which officers responded to the scene of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests.
The law in question is the city’s Due Process and Safety Ordinance. It requires San Diego Police Department officials to release public-facing notifications disclosing the details of officers’ engagement at the scene of immigration enforcement actions.
According to Elo-Rivera, Police Chief Scott Wahl hasn’t released a single public-facing notification since the law took effect in May.
“Chief Wahl is ignoring the law. The public is being left in the dark,” Elo-Rivera’s post reads.
Where Things Stand on South Bay Mayoral Races
Just days away from Election Day, our Jim Hinch has a pre-election review of three very different South Bay mayoral races.
In his latest South County Report, Hinch runs down the political knife fight playing out in National City, the mayor’s race that isn’t in Chula Vista and the complexities of the Imperial Beach contest.
Read the full South County Report here.
Another Live Podcast, Coming Right Up
Meet our journalists and get a download of the election results at our Brews & News Live Podcast. Join CEO and Editor-in-Chief Scott Lewis, Managing Editor Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña, and reporters Bella Ross and Jakob McWhinney.
The crew will be joined by special guests Julie Roland, political director at IBEW 569, and political consultant Mason Herron for this live recording.
It’s all going down on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 6:00 p.m. at Soda Bar.
To get your tickets and learn more about the event here.
In Other News
- The Encinitas City Council voted Thursday to take steps to develop an immigration enforcement public reporting system, bolster resources for impacted communities and consider laws to limit federal agents’ use of city property and enforcement near schools. (inewsource)
- The county is urging flu shots after two children died of influenza-related causes. (KPBS)
- The family of a man who died last week at the Otay Mesa Detention Center says he was misidentified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (KPBS)
- U.S. Rep. Mike Levin has a plan to move nuclear waste from the San Onofre plant amid concerns about sea level rise and coastal erosion. (KPBS)
- The city of San Diego is setting the stage to evict a watercraft rental business from Mission Bay. (Union-Tribune)
- San Diego Pride is losing its seventh executive director in three years and could be forced to dramatically dial back the July events it’s best known for. (Times of San Diego)
- The San Diego Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is raising money for an annual prize honoring former Voice contributor and Union-Tribune reporter Kelly Davis, who passed away this summer, and fuel more work like hers. (Union-Tribune)
The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Jakob McWhinney and MacKenzie Elmer. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña.