Voices of the Voters: Voters Are Feeling Cynical About the District 2 Council Race and High Cost of Living

On a sunny morning in Clairemont, Election Day voters mused about the city’s high cost of living, but did not appear hopeful that their votes would improve it.

Clairemont is at the northmost corner of District 2, which also includes Bay Ho, Ocean Beach and Point Loma. Voters in this district will decide the outcome of one of the most contentious City Council races in San Diego between former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey, an independent, and Deputy City Attorney Nicole Crosby, a Democrat.

“I hate all the negative ads that have come out, especially against Richard Bailey,” said Mary Perry, a Clairemont resident. “From what I observed of what he did in Coronado, I thought he did a good job.”

“We need to know what the candidate stands for,” Perry added. “Not whether or not he supported Trump back in the past election.”

Midterms are generally viewed as a referendum on the party in power. At the national level, this is anticipated to manifest with a “blue wave” as voters respond to the high cost of living under the Trump administration. But, in the city of San Diego, which is experiencing extreme unaffordability under Democratic rule, left-leaning voters are becoming conservative-curious in local races.

“I’m truly like Democratic, like mostly down the line,” said Clairemont resident Grace Fantaroni, clad in a blue shirt for the occasion. “But I really am trying to look at the issues and look at what’s happening, just see if we can get a little bit more accountability locally.”

“I was torn,” Fantaroni said of the District 2 race. “I really enjoy Nicole, and I think she’s great, but I’ve been really frustrated with the city. And the taxes and the water rates and the SDG&E keeps going up and our roads are a mess, and it’s just been frustrating.”

Fanataroni declined to state who she voted for.

Fellow Clairemont resident Amy Storey, who identifies as nonpartisan, shared a similar sentiment.

“At first I liked Bailey, but I ended up voting for Crosby,” Storey said. “I like to say I’m nonpartisan, but I’m not happy at all with Donald Trump. I can’t stand Trump. And I feel like Bailey does have a lot of the same ideas and ideology as that.”

As this race has heated up, the campaigns have worked tirelessly to tie their opponents to controversial politicians in mailers and commercials. Signs scattered across the district from Bailey’s supporters attempt to tie Crosby to Mayor Todd Gloria, and campaign materials from Crosby’s supporters frame her opponent as a radical, MAGA extremist.

“I’m afraid that if we elect Bailey, there’s going to be such great discontent and rancor on the board, there’s going to be a clash, and I think that clash is not going to be good for our city,” said Daniel Smiechowski, a Bay Ho resident and star of the HBO miniseries “Neighbors.”

Smiechowski was a prospective candidate in the District 2 City Council primary, but said he was removed from the race “on a technicality.” He has since transferred his loyalties over to Crosby.

“I think we need to get along,” he said. “Crosby will be okay. I believe she’s independent enough. Don’t believe that she’s attached to Gloria by the hip. That’s a bunch of propaganda.”

Multiple voters also mentioned a frustration with the growing number of ADUs in the neighborhood.

“We’ve raised our kids here, go to school here, and now with all the ADUs and apartments, it’s almost impossible to park,” Storey said. “The infrastructure doesn’t support all of the apartments and everything and ADUs going up.”

“I don’t know that my choices will affect any of those laws,” Storey said, adding that she did not trust Bailey’s promises to fix the problem. 

Voters complained about the cost of living across the political spectrum, with multiple people saying taxes and fees have gotten out of hand. 

“You can’t just keep taxing people and keep saying half a cent, one cent, whatnot,” said attorney and Mira Mesa resident Safoora Awan.

“Like, what is the government doing? What’s it producing? Where’s the efficiency? We want to see the money come back to the people. I wish we had someone like Mayor (Zohran) Mamdani out here. To actually have someone who serves the people to the point that we feel it, and not just these glip politicians,” Awan said.

Voters will also decide on Proposition 40 this election, an attempt to increase state revenue for healthcare with a one-time tax on billionaires. While some saw this as part of a solution to the affordability crisis, others were anxious at the notion of a wealth tax, fearing that it could push billionaires out of the state.

“I don’t want that revenue to leave the state,” said Albert, a Bay Ho resident. “You know, those people might leave the state and I don’t know where the money’s going to go.”

“That was the most difficult thing I voted on,” he added.

There was a pervasive sense of cynicism outside the polls, from people frustrated with the ballot’s complexity and the state of local affairs.

“We don’t have some of the basic guarantees as a nation, as a people, so everyone’s busy trying to acquire those,” Awan said, referring to healthcare and housing. “So then we don’t move past to the other stage where we can make decisions that require some time and thought, because we’re so busy just surviving.”

“Every four years, we get a different label slapped on it, but at the end of it, the contents are the same.”