Editorial:

This special election is not hard to figure out.

First and foremost an overwhelming majority of the voters did not care enough to come out and vote. In the race for San Diego city council, approximately 17% of the registered voters voted. This is good when you compare it to the 80th Assembly race where only 12.5% voted, out of 177,216 registered voters. There were only 22,128 votes cast or to put it another way, 81% decided they were too busy to be bothered.

Secondly, both races featured only Democrats, with the exception of two write-in candidates in the 80th Assembly race who did not draw many votes. For Republican voters there was not much of a choice and without a viable Republican candidate, they stayed home.

Myrtle Cole won the city council race with 5643 votes, about 1300 more votes than she received in the primary. Dwayne Crenshaw more than doubled his total from the primary, but it was not enough. We need to note that as of Thursday morning there were still 4304 votes that needed counting and with a difference 710 votes, there is a glimmer of hope for Crenshaw, but short of a minor miracle the outcome is set.

The 80th Assembly race was a slam dunk. 72% of the voters, 12,599, wanted Lorena Gonzalez as their representative. Gonzalez overwhelmed Steve Castañeda with endorsements and money and it showed in this election. In politics money all too often dictates the outcome and because Castañeda raised less than $20,000 he did not stand a chance.

Meanwhile, reports had Gonzalez at $350,000 raised and it seemed as if she spent every cent of it on television commercials and mailers. She spent an estimated $27.00 per vote.

What carried both Gonzalez and Cole was Union support.

Cole was unabashed about her Union support. Her Union support helped her with campaign contributions, which, in the primary, far surpassed the eight other candidates in the race. In the general election, Cole solidified her base and added just enough votes to hold off Crenshaw.

Lorena Gonzalez, as head of the Labor Union, made sure that all Union IOUs were paid in full. In campaigns with so few voters, it was just a question of turning out the Union vote. For Castaneda, he needed to reach the Republican voter and the independent voter, but as already noted they stayed away from the polls.

The good news is that the election season is finally over. After three special elections in a row there is definately voter fatigue. In the final analysis, that could be why 80% of the voters said enough is enough.