By Arturo Castañares
Editor-at-Large

San Diego voters turned out in relatively high numbers in the Primary Election and delivered some surprises and a few upsets.

As of Monday night, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters had counted 813,000 votes with approximately 80,000 still left to tabulate, resulting in a turnout of over 40%, compared to a final turnout of only 34.8% in the 2022 Primary Election.

In some of the highest profile races, the results came in as most political experts had predicted, including the race for Governor where Republican political commentator Steve Hilton and former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra earned the top two spots in the November General Election with 30.1% and 27.1%, respectively. Most polls leading into election day showed those candidates leading the crowded field of eight top contenders.

Xavier Becerra
 

The dynamics of the race shifted when Congressman Eric Swalwell dropped out and resigned from Congress after being accused of sexual harassment. Swalwell had been leading in most polls just two months before the election. Former Congresswoman Katie Porter tried to capitalize on Swalwell's departure from the race, but Becerra gained the most in the last six weeks of the campaign.

Overall, the turnout favored Republicans, who voted early in the absentee ballot returns, but Democratic turnout rose sharply closer to the election and on Tuesday. Republicans voters were enthusiastic when both Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco surged in early polls, but Republican support consolidated behind Hilton after he received Donald Trump's endorsement. 

The race for the 50th Congressional seat, where incumbent Scott Peters, a Democrat, is seeking his eighth term in office, shows him with 48.2% of the vote and former KUSI News Director Steve Cohen, a Republican, at 40%. The two will face off in November in a race that favors the well-known and heavily funded Peters.

But the race for the 48th Congressional District, which stretches from Oceanside to inland areas of East County, delivered one of the biggest upsets in the county. San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican, was facing strong challenges from two Democrats; San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert, and four-time candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar.

Ammar Campa-Najjar

 

Campa-Najjar, who ran for Congress in 2018 and 2020 before running for Chula Vista Mayor in 2022, enjoyed high-profile endorsements from several Members of Congress, including locals Mike Levin, Scott Peters, and Sara Jacobs. Campa-Najjar is dating and lives with Jacobs, who represents the central San Diego 52nd Congressional District.

In the end, Desmond consolidated the Republican support and received over 42.3% of the vote, but von Wilpert came in second with 21.7%, knocking Campa-Najjar out of the runoff and delivering his fourth electoral loss in the past five election cycles.

Early on Wednesday morning, Campa-Najjar posted on social media that his “political career is permanently over” after his disappointing performance. As of the latest count, Campa-Najjar received only 12.5% of the vote.

Congressmembers Jacobs, Vargas, and Levin, all maintained comfortable leads over their relatively lesser known opponents.

In the countywide race for County Treasurer/Tax Collector, appointed incumbent Larry Cohen maintained a healthy lead of 47.3% to 33.8% over Shirley Nakawatase, a CPA who lost her bid for Mayor of Imperial Beach in 2022.

Larry Cohen

 

But the upset in the race was the San Diego County Supervisor Joel Anderson, who was also running for the seat, came in a distant third place with only 15.8% of the vote. Anderson is currently in the middle of his second and last term on the Board of Supervisors, where he will be termed out of office in January 2029.

The Board of Supervisors recently voted to place a ballot measure on the November election to extend their current voter-approved legal limit of two four-year terms to three terms, including for those members currently in office. Both Anderson and Desmond voted against the measure, calling it “self-serving.”

Anderson proposed alternative language that would have only applied the extended term limits to newly elected Supervisors, not incumbents like him.

Now that Anderson lost his race for Treasurer and will continue in office for two more years, he would benefit from the extended terms if voters approve the measure in November and he could run for re-election in 2028.

In the City of San Diego, voters rejected Measure A, the so-called “empty home” tax, which sought to impose an $8,000 tax on homes which are kept empty more than half of the year. The money, which was estimated to have been between $9 and $20 million in the first year, would have gone to the City’s General Fund, not a specific fund to address housing issues. The vote, as of Monday, was 53.6% NO to 46.4% YES.

In the races for San Diego City Council where the top two candidates in each district continue on to November, District 6 incumbent, Kent Lee, ended up in first place with a comfortable lead of 58.6% to 41.4% over former school board candidate Mark Powell.

In District 2, former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey holds a slight lead of 34.9% to 33.7% over Democrat Nicole Crosby. Bailey moved to San Diego early this year and dropped his Republican voter affiliation in February before filing to run in this race. Crosby was backed by the Democratic Party and labor unions. Bailey had the support of the San Diego Lincoln Club and Pt Loma philanthropist Steven Richter. Incumbent Councilwoman Dr. Jen Campbell is termed out of office.

Richard Bailey

 

The surprise in that race was third place candidate Josh Coyne, who received only 13.3% of the vote. Coyne was supported by an independent political action committee formed by downtown insider Steven Cushman, as well as a PAC formed by the Laborers International Union, Local 89, which spent over $300,000 in support of Coyne.

In District 4, incumbent Councilman Henry Foster III, was trailing first-time candidate Martha Abraham from Tuesday night until the latest results on Monday, when Foster regained the lead by only 13 votes. Foster was endorsed by California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, Congressman Juan Vargas, and four of his Council colleagues; Vivian Moreno, Sean Elo-Rivera, Kent Lee, and Joe LaCava.

Martha Abraham

 

Abraham, a register nurse, was endorsed by the Sierra Club, the United Nurses Association of California, and La Prensa San Diego.

In District 8, San Ysidro School Boardmember Antonio Martinez leads City Council Chief of Staff Gerardo Ramirez by a margin of 29.9% to 25.7% in a four candidate race. Another City Council Chief of Staff, Venus Molina, and community college professor Rafael Perez, were eliminated. Incumbent Councilwoman Vivian Moreno is termed out of office.

Gerardo Ramirez

 

Martinez was endorsed by the San Diego Firefighters union, and the local hotel employees union, while Ramirez was endorsed by the San Diego Police Officers union, the San Diego Union-Tribune, and La Prensa San Diego.

The City of Chula Vista’s race for Mayor saw incumbent John McCann leading Chula Vista Elementary School Boardmember Francisco Tamayo by a margin of 56.5% to 39.2%. McCann, a Republican, was elected in 2022 after having served four terms on the City Council. Although the City has a two-to-one voter registration advantage of Democrats over Republicans, McCann still holds a sizable lead over his Democratic challenger.

John McCann

 

In Chula Vista’s District 1 race, incumbent Carolina Chavez leads challenger Greg Martinez by a margin of 43% to 24.1% after five candidates split the vote. Chavez, a Democrat, leads Republican Martinez by a margin that closely reflects the district’s party registration.

In the City’s District 2, incumbent Councilman Jose Preciado leads first-time candidate Angelica Martinez by a vote of 48.4% to 27.3%. Two other candidates, Russ Hall and Jesse Navarro, received 13.7% and 10.6%, respectively, but were eliminated from the runoff.

The Registrar of Voters will continue to update vote counts until all of the outstanding ballots are counted, and must finalize the results within 30 days of the election.

The next vote update will be on Tuesday, June 9, by 6:00 p.m.