This post first appeared in the Morning Report. Subscribe to the newsletter here.
Two South Bay mayors will race for the open seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre will appear on the runoff ballot July 1.
With 11,000 votes still to count, McCann, a Republican, had won 44 percent of votes. Aguirre had gotten 32 percent of votes counted.
Two other Democrats in the race, San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno and Chula Vista City Councilmember Carolina Chavez, garnered too few votes – 13 percent and 8 percent – to overcome the frontrunners’ lead. Three other lesser-known candidates split the remainder of the vote.
McCann will come up short of the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright.
What’s at stake: Tuesday’s special election was called following the surprise – and so far unexplained – resignation in December of former District 1 Supervisor Nora Vargas. The district includes the cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and National City as well as portions of southern San Diego and the unincorporated area of Bonita.
A Democrat, Vargas helped to wrest the Board of Supervisors away from generations of Republican control when she was first elected in 2020. Since her departure, the Board has been split evenly between two Democrats and two Republicans.
The winner of Tuesday’s special election will determine whether the county continues on its current leftward path or reverts to Republican control.
Reactions: “I’m very humbled, very thankful of the volunteers we’ve had and all the supporters we’ve had and all the people who voted for me,” McCann said Tuesday evening at an election night watch party at Karina’s restaurant in Chula Vista. “We’re excited that we will be in the runoff and we know that will be a tough battle. We’re going to continue to be on the ground talking to people, listening to people and finding solutions for South County.”
Aguirre issued a statement from her own watch party at Novo Brazil brewery in Imperial Beach. “It’s a clear message,” she said of her likely advancement to a runoff. “Voters want a Supervisor who fights on the side of working people, gets results on the sewage crisis and pushes for the more affordable San Diego County we need.”
Aguirre on Tuesday evening previewed campaign themes she likely will emphasize: “This runoff is a clear choice between Democratic values that put working people first, and a Trump Republican agenda that would be a complete disaster for all of San Diego County,” she said.
McCann said he was “fully prepared” for a runoff election and planned to focus his campaign on his record in Chula Vista.
McCann said he had helped to make Chula Vista “one of the safest cities in the county,” reduced the number of homeless people on city streets and brought “thousands of new jobs” via signature economic development projects such as a soon-to-open luxury hotel and resort on the city’s redeveloped bayfront.
“I’ve been a leader to help elevate the image and job growth in Chula Vista, where Chula Vista is an economic engine for the region,” McCann said. “I want to make sure we create innovation and jobs in all of South County.”
We need to get a republican In. We’ve had enough of the Democratic party and the treasonous Todd Gloria. San Diego has turned into a melting pot of homeless drug users on the street and not to mention Todd Gloria is wasting our taxpayer money. We need to turn San Diego red so we can turn it around and make it back into America’s finest city. I still believe it is America’s finest city, but we need to get rid of the corruption in the political arena and Todd Gloria has to be fired terminated and let go way before 2028. We also need to eliminate the sanctuary city status.