Residents of El Cajon will choose their next mayor on November 3rd and the candidates seem like they couldn\u2019t be more polar opposites.\u00a0<\/p>\n
First we have Bill Wells who has been mayor of the city for about 13 years and who has often taken up the MAGA mantle of responsibility against the state\u2019s Democrats, including suing the state over its sanctuary laws and pushing for a resolution for the city\u2019s police to cooperate with ICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then we have Alexander Kraft, a labor organizer and socialist who wants to inspire workers to rise up against the oppression of capitalism.<\/p>\n
As opposed as they may seem, in my recent talks with each, I found Wells and Kraft do share some similarities. For instance, they both took issue with my line of questioning, and specifically that I questioned them about some of their more extreme views (although neither would characterize them as such). They also both excused their extreme views by claiming that they weren\u2019t relevant to voters since the job of the mayor is mundane and typically deals with things like fixing city streets and making sure parks are clean.<\/p>\n
Either way, let\u2019s get into their irrational beliefs and let voters decide whether they find them relevant.<\/p>\n
Wells\u2019 Conspiracies, Misinformation, and MAGA Blindspot<\/p>\n
Starting with Wells, the mayor stated that he wants to continue to prioritize public safety, maintaining infrastructure, and protecting the city\u2019s fiscal health. Wells touted that under his leadership, the city has accumulated a healthy reserve fund, which contrasts nicely against the many other cities in California facing deficits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While maintaining a budget reserve is great, some of the mayor\u2019s other activities are concerning. Wells also often promotes Trumpian conspiracies about Democrat-led election fraud, and promotes divisive misinformation.<\/p>\n
I asked him about an Instagram<\/a> post of his captioned \u201cCalifornia Dems Rigging Elections?\u201d, where he seemed to suggest on a talk-show that Democrats may be rigging the elections against gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton.<\/p>\n According to Wells, \u201cyou have to be naive to not think there\u2019s election fraud happening,\u201d although when I asked if he had seen concrete evidence of significant voter fraud, he did not provide any that would suggest that Democrats are rigging the election against Hilton.<\/p>\n He had similar trouble defending his social media posts that falsely claimed that the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights had used taxpayer funds to pay people to protest. According to him, he couldn\u2019t remember his February 24th post<\/a> alleging as much.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wells doesn\u2019t just repost misinformation, he\u2019s sometimes the original source of the misinformation, which is then shared by others. For instance, Mayor Wells has also previously claimed that anti-ICE protesters were being paid up to $120,000<\/a> by George Soros to protest \u2013 a ridiculous sum and the only source that I was able to find for this was Wells himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n