Editorial:

In the San Diego City Council District 4 election, the candidates were whittled down from nine candidates to the two top vote getters, Dwayne Crenshaw and Myrtle Cole. The only two candidates in the 80th Assembly race are Steve Castañeda and Lorena Gonzalez, and they are all set to go. The special election date for both races has been set for May 21st.

In District 4 there is not much to differentiate between the two democratic candidates. The biggest difference being that Crenshaw is a gay man. Other than that there is not much difference between their platforms: both stand for jobs, economic development, public safety, infrastructure, and both realize that District 4, along with District 8, has more than their fair share of issues, with little support from city hall. This is the flip side of district elections, with little political influence in the district it has been hard to get the other district council votes on your side.

District 4 is considered a Black district and historically has elected a black candidate to represent the district, this despite the fact that the Black community is now the dwarfed by the Hispanic community, and the Asian community is now the second-largest ethnic community in the district. While both candidates, Crenshaw and Cole, have extolled their ethnicity and have stated that they will be looking for more black representation throughout city government, their election will depend on the Asian and Hispanic vote.

Whomever will best represent those interests will likely attract their vote.

While the two democrats in the city council race are similar, the two democrat candidates in the 80th Assembly race to replace Ben Hueso are very different as two democrats can be.

The 80th Assembly race is between union leader Lorena Gonzalez and termed out City of Chula Vista councilman Steve Castañeda.

Gonzalez is reaping the benefits of being a union leader and has already raised a massive sum of money, over $250,000, for this special election, and has already garnered a who’s who list of endorsements for her candidacy. The money raised and endorsements can be attributed to her leadership role as head of the local Labor Council.

While Gonzalez has an embarrassment of funds to run her campaign, Castañeda is having to run a shoe-string campaign, with all of his endorsements coming from South Bay community members and local politicians.

As a metaphor for this campaign, this is your typical David versus Goliath Assembly race.

As with most special elections, this one will be a very low voter turnout. In the case of the Assembly race, this could be a positive for candidate Castañeda, making it easier for him to focus on a smaller number of voters, needing far less money than in a normal election.

Another positive for Castañeda in this race is that he is a local who has a long history of involvement in the South Bay, including two terms on the Chula Vista city council. Gonzalez has only recently moved into the northern end of the district, and was a candidate for City of San Diego city council district 2 (which includes communities such as Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, Point Loma, Little Italy) in 2006. One of the political truisms about the South Bay elections is that family connections, local friends, and community involvement are valued traits.

Gonzalez is the favorite in this race, but Castañeda should make it interesting!