By Arturo Castañares
Editor-at-Large

A longtime Point Loma resident has launched a new political action committee (PAC) to support a candidate in the upcoming election for San Diego City Council, according to documents filed with the California Secretary of State last week.

Steven Richter, a semi-retired tax attorney, is the principal officer for ‘SD Policy over Politics’, a new PAC formed to support Richard Bailey, a candidate for District 2, which includes the communities of Clairemont, Midway, Mission Beach, Mission Bay Park, Old Town, Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

Richard Bailey

 

Last month, Bailey announced his candidacy for City Council to replace termed out Councilman Dr. Jen Campbell.

“I want to help elect someone with the right experience and vision to make things better for all San Diegans,” Richter told La Prensa San Diego in an exclusive interview in his home on Sunset Cliffs. “Richard Bailey is a city leader, a business owner in the District, and an economist with real world experience.”

Steven Richter

 

Bailey, who previously served as Mayor of Coronado from 2016 to 2024, moved to San Diego in December 2025 and began working to repeal the trash fees passed by voters in 2022, as well as attacking the City’s new parking fees at Balboa Park.

In 2024, Richter donated to a PAC run by the Lincoln Club, a non-partisan business group that supported independent candidate Larry Turner in his challenge to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. Gloria won 55% to 44%, but the margin was closer of any many political pundits had expected.

“I previously donated to an existing committee that was supporting Larry Turner, but I later realized they had internal political conflicts that bled into the campaign,” Richter admits. “I wish I would have just launched my own PAC back then and avoided getting connected with the politics of others that don’t reflect my own,” Richter added.

Richter cites the mismanagement of the City by Mayor Todd Gloria and the current City Council as the motivation to donate to campaigns of independent candidates like Bailey and Turner.

“The City has been run into a financial hole by mismanagement, overspending, and lack of leadership,” Richter said. “We really need to make big changes to fix things, not just tax our residents to make up for bad decisions.”

In an interview with La Prensa San Diego during the Mayor’s race, Richter confirmed that he did not have any business interests, real estate projects, or other financial conflicts with the City of San Diego. He reiterated those points again this week.

“I have no financial interests in the outcome of these races,” Richter confirmed, “except that I want better decision-making at City Hall, and I am confident Richard Bailey has the most practical experience to help move our city forward,” he added.

Richter is a retired Certified Public Accountant, an active licensed attorney, and serves as a Judge Pro Tem in San Diego Superior Court. He also serves as a Sergeant in the San Diego Police Department’s Volunteer Traffic Patrol.

“I love San Diego, and have donated my time and money to various charities and community groups over the years,” Richter said. “I am not looking for anything but helping our City be the best it can be."

Richter was a lifelong registered Democrat and became an unaffiliated voter two years ago, but he says he does not support candidates based on their partisan registration.

Bailey was a registered Republican until he dropped his Party registration in February, saying he was more focused on policy, and, like most people across the political spectrum, wanted to leave partisan politics “off the table”. He is now an unaffiliated registered voter.

Before serving as Coronado Mayor, Bailey served four years on the Coronado City Council, and four years as a Financial Business Analyst with United Technologies, an aerospace company.

Bailey earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Master of Science in Economics from the University of North Dakota.

The other candidates in the race for District 2 include Josh Coyne, Nicole Crosby, Mandy Havlik, Jacob Mitchell, Mike Rickey, and Paul Suppa.

Another PAC launched last month to support Josh Coyne is headed by downtown business leader Steven Cushman.

Cushman, whose family is a major partner in the $4 billion Riverwalk project in Mission Valley, has worked as a consultant for Mayor Gloria on negotiating real estate deals, including the failed 1,000 bed homeless shelter plan at Kettner and Vine in 2024.

Cushman donated $5,000 to ‘San Diegans for Fairness PAC Supporting Josh Coyne’ on March 30th.

On December 15, 2025, Cushman also launched ‘San Diegans for Fairness Supporting Venus Molina’ who is a candidate in San Diego’s District 8 race to replace termed out Councilwoman Vivian Moreno.

Cushman is also the principal officer of a larger ‘San Diegans for Fairness” general PAC which spent over $1 million in support of Mayor Todd Gloria in his re-election in 2024.

The voter registration numbers in District 2 are 43.6% Democrats, 24.6% Republicans, and 23.3% nonpartisan. District 2 voters have alternated between electing Democrats and Republicans in their last four Councilmembers.

Campbell, a Democrat, succeeded Lori Zapf, a Republican. Before her, Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, served until he was elected Mayor in 2015. Faulconer had replaced Democrat Michael Zucchet, who resigned after being convicted in the Strippergate scandal in 2005. His conviction was later overturned by the trial Judge.

The Primary Election will be on June 2, and a runoff between the top two candidates will be in the General Election on November 2.