Politics in San Diego County\u2019s southern cities are not for the faint of heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a tribal, bare-knuckle, unsentimental political arena. That was as true as ever this week as the final deadline to file candidate papers for the November election expired at 5 p.m. Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A series of sudden, unexpected changes and last-minute entrants set up contests in several cities that could prove both bruising and politically consequential.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be reporting in depth on many of these races as election season heats up. For now, here\u2019s a selective rundown of some of the most high-profile contests, with notes about what makes them important.\u00a0<\/p>\n
National City\u00a0<\/p>\n
The headline news was Mayor Ron Morrison\u2019s<\/a> surprise retirement announcement<\/a> last weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n Observers had expected him to run for a fifth term as mayor, in part to thwart fellow City Councilmember Jose Rodriguez, who announced a bid to challenge Morrison months ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n Morrison and Rodriguez have been antagonists on and off the Council dais ever since Rodriguez narrowly lost to Morrison in the 2022 mayoral contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n Morrison\u2019s departure threw the race to replace him wide open.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Monday, City Councilmember Marcus Bush stepped in, setting up a contest between two former allies \u2013 Bush and Rodriguez \u2013 who have become frenemies at best.\u00a0<\/p>\n Morrison endorsed Bush, who, in turn, sought to distinguish himself from Rodriguez by proclaiming himself open to working with Republicans, business interests and others with whom Bush, a Democrat, sometimes disagrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rodriguez, also a Democrat, has made his alliance with San Diego County\u2019s powerful labor movement a centerpiece of his campaign. He said he takes inspiration from his mother, who he said endured harsh working conditions and low pay as a non-union cleaner of Marriott hotel rooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n The contest between the two councilmembers could turn bitter. Both candidates have lobbed personal attacks at each other during City Council meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the race will be substantive too, testing the relative power of organized labor and business interests in National City.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city faces acute budget problems and a sagging economy. Expect both candidates to advance different solutions and engage different parts of the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n One thing is almost certain. After years without a single Democratic mayor in heavily Democratic South County, National City likely will be led by a Democrat following the November election.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also in the race are two candidates who have less obvious paths to victory: Longtime city treasurer Mitchel Beauchamp and environmental activist and political intern Jacobb Castrejon.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chula Vista\u00a0<\/p>\n Chula Vista held a primary election earlier this year that finalized matchups in contests for mayor and two City Council seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve already reported on the candidacies of Republican mayoral incumbent John McCann<\/a> and Democratic challenger Francisco Tamayo<\/a>, a trustee for the Chula Vista Elementary School District.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since the primary, McCann has emerged as a front-runner.\u00a0<\/p>\n He won 56 percent of the primary vote, meaning Tamayo already has an uphill climb to claim a majority.\u00a0<\/p>\n And McCann has vastly outperformed Tamayo in fundraising. So far this year, according to campaign filings, McCann raised more than $130,000. Tamayo raised just $18,000, with more than half that sum coming from a loan he made to his own campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n During the primary, Tamayo benefited from more than $150,000 in outside spending by a San Diego County labor union representing construction workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, that same union ran into a buzzsaw of community opposition<\/a> against a ballot measure the union sponsored that would have dramatically reshaped Chula Vista\u2019s elected government. It\u2019s not clear whether the union plans to play a decisive role in the November election.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two City Council incumbents, Jose Preciado and Carolina Chavez, both Democrats, have Republican challengers who are mounting spirited attempts at an upset.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the combination of incumbency and financial support from organized labor and other interest groups will make both councilmembers hard to beat.\u00a0<\/p>\n Imperial Beach\u00a0<\/p>\n America\u2019s southwestern-most city brought its own election surprises.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week, City Councilmember Matthew Leyba-Gonzalez upended what had appeared to be a stable two-way race for mayor by filing to run days before a Friday deadline.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyba-Gonzalez\u2019s last-minute entrance injected new issues and interest groups into the campaign and changed the electoral calculus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyba-Gonzalez will face mayoral incumbent Mitch McKay<\/a> and retired school administrator Karl Bradley<\/a>, both of whom filed to run last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n McKay isn\u2019t a Republican (officially, he\u2019s a registered independent) but he often votes like one.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since taking office, he has sought to dial down the confrontational activism of his predecessor, County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, in favor of a more low-key, behind-the-scenes effort to support city businesses and find solutions to the ongoing Tijuana River sewage crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bradley, a Democrat, promises a return to sewage activism. Until last week, the contest between the two candidates appeared likely to center on the sewage crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyba-Gonzalez represents Imperial Beach\u2019s fourth City Council district, which is farthest from the coast and home to some of the city\u2019s lowest income and most ethnically diverse residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyba-Gonzaelz also works as a union business official and touts his close alliance with organized labor.\u00a0<\/p>\n His entrance into the race highlights Imperial Beach\u2019s complex political identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city is home to vastly different communities. Beachfront retirees, surfers, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, latter-day hippies, workers at nearby military bases and an international array of immigrants call the city home.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those constituencies share a love of their laid-back, embattled hometown. But they don\u2019t always agree or even overlap in their experience of the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n McKay probably will get support from business interests, retirees and residents who value his pragmatic style. Bradley can count on support from environmentalists and longtime Democrats.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyba-Gonzalez is more of a wildcard. He could carry his district or gain widespread support with the help of a vigorous, labor-backed advertising campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n Or he could split the Democratic vote and guarantee McKay\u2019s victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ll need to do more reporting to get a better sense of how things are shaking out. Until then, I can say confidently that the I.B. mayoral race will be fascinating, and instructive, to watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n There was one more surprise in Imperial Beach. At the last minute, City Councilmember Carol Seabury announced she would not seek re-election, citing medical and family issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n The race to replace her now pits two candidates with very different constituencies and priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Seabury, a Republican, endorsed Steve Berry, the owner of a local printing business who shares Seabury\u2019s pro-business approach to policymaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n Challenging Berry is Jose Lopez Eguino, a trustee for the South Bay Union School District and a local director for the community organizing group Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.\u00a0<\/p>\n