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New Faces For San Diego City Council, County Board Of Supervisors

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Author: Jeff Powers
Created: 07 November, 2018
Updated: 21 November, 2022
3 min read

San Diego, Calif.- It appears City of San Diego voters made history last night.

Never before have two city council incumbents lost on an election night.

In fact, the last time an incumbent lost was 1992.

San Diego Councilwomen Lorie Zapf and Myrtle Cole are both trailing in election returns.

Election Results

District 2

This comes down to party registration and a huge get-out-the-vote effort by labor.

The district has shifted toward Democrats, who now enjoy a roughly 10-thousand vote advantage. Democrat Dr. Jen Campbell took advantage of those numbers and painted Zapf as an out-of-touch Trump Republican, whose interests run counter to her constituents interests.

If the numbers hold, the Campbell win would give Democrats a 6-3 majority on the council, which would allow overrides of vetoes by Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer on contentious issues.

More Choice for San Diego

However, in confidential conversations with IVN San Diego, many prominent local Democrats have raised concerns about the veto proof majority, some saying it's an unhealthy imbalance that could be dangerous for Democrats in the long run.

District 4

Like Zapf, Council President Myrtle Cole is trailing her challenger Monica Montgomery.

Montgomery is a civil rights lawyer, and a win would likely turn the council a bit darker blue.

Cole is a considered more of a moderate Democrat.

Montgomery beat Cole by six votes in the June primary.

She resigned as a policy advisor for Cole the day after Cole made controversial remarks about racial profiling. Montgomery was working as an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

She's an outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform and said if elected, she would implement recommendations set forth in a San Diego State University racial profiling report.

County Board of Supervisors

More Choice for San Diego

Political experts agree, former San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis didn't mount much of a campaign to win the District 4 Board of Supervisor seat.

Perhaps she knew her fate.

Former state Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher easily bested Dumanis in the race to succeed Ron Roberts on the Board of Supervisors. The two-term state lawmaker has more than 64 percent of the vote.

Fletcher noted, “It’s exciting and I’m humbled by the opportunity to once again get up every day and work on issues that impact the lives of others. The voters have sent a clear and decisive message: They are ready for a county government to move in a more progressive direction and a county government that understands we are strongest when are all heard, all are engaged and all are served.”

Fletcher's win marks just the second time in three decades a Democrat has won a seat.

District 5 Supervisor Race

San Marcos Mayor Jim Desmond won Supervisor District 5 race handily.

Desmond has served as San Marcos mayor for 12 years.

More Choice for San Diego

Prior to taking the office in 2006, Desmond was a San Marcos City Councilman. He was endorsed by the San Diego County Republican Party and serves on the boards of directors for the San Diego Association of Governments, San Diego International Airport, San Diego County Economic Development Corporation and San Diego and Imperial County Boy Scouts of America.

The two open seats were the result of termed-out supervisors Ron Roberts and Bill Horn.

Roberts and Horn are the first supervisors to be termed out of office as a result of San Diego County's Measure B, which was passed in 2010.

District 1 Supervisor Greg Cox and District 2 Supervisor Dianne Jacob will be termed out in 2020.

Midterm recap with UT Columnist Michael Smolens:

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