Angela Davis approached the voting center on Tuesday with a mission. She wore a boot on her left leg and had an injury to nurse, but she wasn’t going to let anything stand in her way.
When I asked her who she would be voting for in the County Board of Supervisors District 3 race. She was quick to say, “Terra Lawson-Remer.” Why? Because Lawson-Remer is a Democrat.
“I’m voting Blue, all the way,” Davis said.
Incumbent Democratic Supervisor Lawson-Remer is facing Republican Kevin Faulconer, a familiar face in San Diego politics.
Faulconer was San Diego’s mayor from 2014 to 2020 before losing a run for governor in 2021. He claims to have decreased homelessness while he was mayor, and he plans to do it again if elected, he says.
Lawson-Remer, who was elected to the District 3 seat in 2020, argues that Faulconer actually made homelessness worse. She says she’s the most qualified to continue the county’s work on homelessness.
This race will decide partisan control of the five-member Board of Supervisors. Democrats currently hold a 3-2 majority, but if Faulconer wins, he’ll flip the board to Republican control.
Voter Steven Pryor said he also voted for Terra Lawson-Remer because he’s seen what he needed to see of Faulconer when he was mayor.
“I didn’t like Faulconer when he was mayor of San Diego,” Pryor said. “I don’t think he reached out to every part of the community and fought for every part of the community.”
He added that Lawson-Remer has shown more of an openness to representing what people in the district want and need.
Mel Rork, who also voted in person on Tuesday, said she cast her vote for Faulconer, a choice that surprised even herself. Rork said she usually votes Democrat, but Faulconer’s tenure as mayor secured her vote for him this time.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that when Faulconer was mayor, he did a lot of good things, did well on our homelessness crisis and was really involved in the community,” Rork said. “I specifically remember that he did some clean ups and things like that in Ocean Beach and he seems to care about my community.”
District 3 encompasses San Diego’s coastal communities, including Coronado, Point Loma, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Del Mar and more.