Tuesday night was a blue wave of epic proportions nationally. But big things also happened at the local level including the revival of a San Diego tradition: Election Central.
Until 2020, San Diego politicians of all stripes along with reporters and civic-minded locals all gathered at Golden Hall to laugh, cry and bask in the glow of victory. Covid killed that tradition, temporarily, but on Tuesday we brought it back to downtown San Diego.
Dozens of elected leaders and party apparatchiks, as well as reporters from other news outlets, showed up to discuss the news of the evening and celebrate another night of a semi-functioning democracy.
We’re still buzzing on the community that came together for it.
Many local races in San Diego are still too close to call. Here’s a rundown of what we know so far.
At the Federal Level
All of San Diego’s Democratic Congressional delegation handily won reelection. And Democrats appeared to flip the one seat that had previously been held by a Republican.
That mirrored national results in which Democrats took control of both houses of Congress.
We asked Rep. Scott Peters, who was reelected to represent the state’s 50th Congressional District, what Democrats planned to do with all that power once they return to Washington.
The first thing he mentioned: the war in Iran.
“I think we’ll have a lot more leverage to stop it,” he said.
Peters brought up tariffs second. He said President Trump should have asked Congress for the authority to impose tariffs — and Peters now hopes Congress will be able to take back that power.
Peters said those two things alone should help ease the affordability problems plaguing Americans.
Peters next brought up health care. We asked him whether he would support a Medicare for All bill.
He said it would be “hard to transition the whole economy to that.” He said things he’d consider would be a public option or Medicare for kids or plans that would protect people from losing their homes or savings over a catastrophic medical event.
48th Congressional District: Democrat Marni von Wilpert appeared to flip the 48th Congressional District Tuesday. Rep. Darrell Issa has the position but it was one of five districts Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature redrew (with voter approval last year) to make it favor Democrats.
Issa decided not to run again and now you can see why.
Von Wilpert declared victory over Republican Jim Desmond after roughly a third of the votes were counted. As of 1 a.m., with 73 percent of the vote counted, she was up 59 percent to 41 percent.
One thing to watch for the future: The governor and Legislature pledged that the independent redistricting process would proceed as normal at the end of the decade, which could make that seat more competitive again.
San Diego City Council
District 2: After months of fierce (and often misleading) campaigning, Democrat Nicole Crosby opened a sizable lead over Republican-turned-independent Richard Bailey, the former Mayor of Coronado. Early Wednesday morning, Crosby held a nine-point lead over Bailey in the coastal district.
In a call, Bailey said the results were “disappointing.”
“We tried to give voters an alternative and we think we did a great job communicating our policy differences, but this election turned out to be more about partisan politics than policies,” Bailey said. “It’s clear the labor unions have bought City Hall and until we have a change of leadership, which will be very difficult so long as labor unions own City Hall, we’re going to see the same type of policies coming out and the same results.”
Our Bella Ross spoke with District 2 voters who are fed up with the high cost of living and cynical of what politicians can actually offer them.
District 4: The race for the southeastern San Diego seat on City Council remains tight between incumbent Henry Foster and community activist Martha Abraham. Both candidates are Democrats.
Late night results revealed Abraham had a lead of nearly 700 votes over Foster. Abraham’s lead grew to just under 1,200 votes early Wednesday. That bodes well for Abraham, but the race is far from decided.
Our Mariana Martínez Barba stopped by polls in District 4 to hear from voters what changes they want to see in the district.
District 6: It was smooth sailing to a second term for incumbent Democrat Kent Lee. Republican Mark Powell had just more than 40 percent of the vote early Wednesday morning. That’s too large of a lead to overcome.
District 8: Democrats Antonio Martinez and Gerardo Ramirez faced off to represent San Diego’s southern neighborhoods including Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, Nestor and San Ysidro.
Early Wednesday morning, Martinez held lead of more than 1,700-votes. It grew with each count update.
Outside PACs and independent committees have dropped big bucks on the candidates, making it one of the costliest City Council races.
“I’m feeling very excited. Obviously, there’s still a lot of votes that need to be counted but I think overall the lead is there,” Martinez told us.
Martinez said community members in his district want to feel included in the decisions at City Hall.
“I think ultimately when it comes down to it, there’s a lot of decision-making made at City Hall without input from the community,” he said.
Voters in action: Voters across San Diego County showed up to cast their vote. Here are some scenes captured by photojournalist Zoë Meyers.
Election Day Drama: Group Launches Recall on Gloria
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria wasn’t up for reelection, but he still got caught in some Election Day drama.
A group led by attorney Geneviéve Jones-Wright launched a recall effort against Gloria, as Times of San Diego reported. The group says Gloria has failed to put San Diegans first and is unfit for office.
“We have lost confidence in his competence, leadership, judgment, and candor,” reads the notice.
Publishing the notice of intent is just the first step in the recall process. The notice must be served to Gloria by Nov. 8 and the city clerk by Nov. 13. Gloria has the opportunity to respond to the notice until Nov. 17.
Signature gathering cannot begin until late November, and the group only has 120 days after that to gather signatures of at least 15 percent of registered voters in the city. If they manage to pull it off, the City Council would call a special election.
Related: As of early Wednesday, Proposition 5 was passing with a slim margin. If it passes, it would require that a recall vote and the choice of who should replace the recalled officer be separated into different elections. But that’s for state elected offices. The city may still run its own process. Regardless, it would be hard to get through the whole process with much time left in Gloria’s term.
Countywide
Measure A: Early results showed a county governance reform measure was living on a razor’s edge. The measure was ahead by more than 18,000 votes, but still just at 51 percent in support.
If approved, Measure A would rebalance power at the county, giving supervisors more sway over day-to-day county operations and budgeting and give supervisors the chance to run for a third term.
Measure B: The countywide half-cent sales tax proposal, was also too close to call. The tax measure was ahead by roughly 15,000 votes, with roughly 51 percent of the vote share.
If the initiative passes with a simple majority, it would pull in funds for causes including health care, Tijuana River sewage solutions, child care and public safety.
Other county races: Appointed county Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Cohen, a Democrat, seemed poised to take the permanent seat. Cohen had roughly 60 percent of the vote.
Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe and Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk Jordan Marks also sailed to victory in early results.
South County
South County voters continued their unpredictable streak, appearing on track to deliver wins to a Democrat, a Republican and a conservative-leaning independent in three mayoral races while favoring a union-backed Democrat for San Diego City Council.
Our Jim Hinch spoke with voters in South County about the national issues that captured their attention, sometimes at the expense of local races.
Chula Vista Mayor: Republican Mayor John McCann appeared on track to defeat Democratic challenger Francisco Tamayo, a Chula Vista Elementary School District trustee. Initial results in South County’s largest city showed McCann winning 59 percent of vote.
“I’m very thankful to the people of Chula Vista for giving me another four years,” said McCann. “We’re going to continue to work on what we did the first four years, making sure streets are safe, increasing good, high paying jobs, and getting homeless people off the streets.”
City Council incumbents Jose Preciado and Carolina Chavez also were ahead in early results, though Preciado, a Democrat, led his Republican challenger, Angelica Martinez, by just 402 votes out of roughly 10,500 votes cast.
National City Mayor: City Councilmember Jose Rodriguez appeared on track to defeat fellow Councilmember Marcus Bush in a hard-fought contest to replace long-serving Mayor Ron Morrison, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
Rodriguez led Bush in early results with 56 percent of the vote — compared to Bush’s 32 percent.
Rodriguez, who frequently sparred with both Morrison and Bush on the Council dais, promised to take the city in a new direction.
“This is a mandate and we are going to make sure we enact it,” he said. “[Voters] want to get to work and make sure the streets are fixed and lights are fixed and we have housing that’s affordable… This is a resounding victory.”
Two City Council incumbents, Luz Molina and Ditas Yamane, appeared on track to retain their seats in early results, though Molina’s race was close.
Imperial Beach: Mayor Mitch McKay, a conservative-leaning independent, appeared on track to retain his seat. McKay had roughly 42 percent of the vote as of Tuesday night, while his Democratic challengers had roughly 36 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
Chula Vista Elementary School District: Two school board candidates backed by the influential teachers union, Jessica Tolston and Leticia Segura, appeared on track in early results to win seats on the board.
Despite a major union-backed effort to defeat incumbent board member Delia Cervantes, who often has clashed with the superintendent and other union-backed board members, she appeared on track to hold her seat.
North County
District 5 County Board of Supervisors: Local Republicans appear to have kept Democrats from achieving a super majority on the county Board of Supervisors.
North County supervisorial candidate and San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones, a Republican, had roughly 61 percent of the vote late Tuesday night.
Senate District 40: Democrat and former city attorney Mara Elliot held a relatively slim edge over Republican Kristie Bruce-Lane in the race for the 40th Senate District.
Elliot was led by roughly 9,000 votes, with roughly 52 percent of the vote share.
What voters said: Our Tigist Layne chatted with voters in San Marcos who found themselves at the intersection of three of the region’s key races.
A blue wave in Encinitas? Early results showed Democrat and Democrat-backed candidates leading in races for Encinitas mayor and two City Council seats. The City Council currently has a conservative-leaning majority, and the lone Democrat on the Council didn’t run for reelection this year.
In Districts 3 and 4, Democratic-backed candidates held early and significant leads when polls closed Tuesday. The race for mayor is too close to call with Democrat Rimga Viskanta leading Mayor Bruce Ehlers by 160 votes.
Vista Mayor: Former Vista City Councilmember Joe Green, a Republican-turned-independent, was leading Kenneth Zuniga, a member of Democratic Socialists of America, Tuesday night by 720 votes.
Green and Zuniga are vying to replace current mayor John Franklin, who ran for the District 5 Board of Supervisors seat but lost in the June primary.
East County
El Cajon Mayor: It would be hard to come up with a starker contrast between candidates than the race for El Cajon Mayor. Socialist challenger Alexander Kraft sought to unseat staunch conservative incumbent Bill Wells.
Throughout the race, Kraft became a social media darling, while Wells sought to paint his opponent as too radical for El Cajon. Wells succeeded.
Early vote totals show Wells cruising to victory, though by a comparatively tighter margin than he has in past races.
Our Jakob McWhinney caught up with voters to learn about how Kraft’s pitch has resonated with them.
Grossmont Union: For years, Grossmont Union High School District has been beset by scandal. From contentious layoffs to cultural battles to seemingly untoward political maneuvering, much of the controversy was driven by a trio of longtime incumbent conservative board members: Jim Kelly, Rob Shield and Gary Woods.
Shield chose not to run for reelection, but Kelly and Woods fought on to try to keep their seats. For the first time the district’s teachers union backed the challengers. Early vote totals show mixed, but mostly encouraging results for the challengers.
Two challengers had sizable leads, while a third was down by 20 percentage points.
Should the two challengers pull through that would create a new majority on the board for the first time in decades.
Non-Election News: Nat City Business Leaders Nix Big Tax Hike
A committee of National City business leaders tasked with crafting an alternative to a failed business tax increase came back with a new proposal on Tuesday. It would raise just a third as much new revenue for the city as the original proposal.
The City Council earlier this year narrowly rejected an earlier proposal by city staff to to sharply raise the city’s business tax.
Businesses objected and vowed to defeat it. To stave off defeat, councilmembers asked business leaders to craft their own alternative plan.
The plan leaders approved Tuesday would bring in $2.75 million in new revenue, compared to $7.5 million in the city’s initial proposal.
The proposal now goes to the City Council.
Special Podcast
If you’re done reading and just want to watch or listen, the podcast crew pulled together an immediate reaction episode late Tuesday. Andrew Keatts, general manager of Times of San Diego joined the crew.
We will, of course, have continuing coverage over the coming weeks. Thank you to everyone who joined us at the revived Election Central!