This year I skipped going downtown to watch the election results. Instead, I watched Ugly Delicious, Chef David Chang’s Netflix show putting the food we eat into a historical and cultural context. It was a lot more fulfilling than orbiting the floor at Golden Hall watching people waiting for election results.  

And now that I think of it, the term ‘ugly delicious’ is an apt metaphor for the June 2018 primary results.  I’m going to make today’s column a work in progress, posting the results as of Wednesday morning, updating them when it changes the outcome, and adding historical and cultural analysis until late in the afternoon. (So if you’re reading this in the morning and it seems sparse, come back later. I’ll be writing as fast as I can until the caffeine wears off.)

I’ll start with down-ballot contests and move up the political food chain as far as Congressional races, after a couple of general observations. Statewide races, I think, are well covered elsewhere.

• The worrywarts fearing a lockout of Democrats due to California’s jungle primary were w.r.o.n.g. Every one of the Congressional seats in districts performing well for Clinton in 2016 has a Democrat headed for the general election.   
• Democrats will likely take a seat on the County Board of Supervisors in November, but only after Republican wage a scorched earth campaign.
• Two San Diego City Council (D2 & D4) incumbents ought to be looking over their shoulders come November.

The Rules: Top 5 candidates only; information via SDVote; as of 9am; *=incumbent –Results updated only when it changes the outcome; write-in candidates included only when relevant.

State Board of Equalization District 4
Total Votes San Diego + Orange Counties

Joel Anderson (R)     301,345
John F. Kelly    (R)     165,173
Mike Shaefer (R)       164,913
Ken Lopez-Maddox(D)134,716
David Dodson (D)     133,543     

Superior Court Seats

Office # 28
*Herbert J Exarhos  64.72%
Vicki Rothman        35.02%
Exarhos retains his seat.

Office # 37
*Gary Kreep             31.60%
Matt Brower            26.15%
Steve Miller             17.55%
Victor Torres            13.85%
Tim Nader               10.66%
There will be a runoff in November for this seat.

County Board of Education
No November runoffs
The candidates backed by State Charter School advocates and their billionaire lost.

3rd District
*Alicia Munoz     56.73%
Eric J Lund          43.07%

5th District
*Rick Shea                52.43%
Cheryl James-Ward  47.36%

Grossmont-Cuyamaca College District
Top two go to November runoffs

TA-1
Linda Cartwright         51.30%
Jonathan John Olsen  32.23%
*Edward Heil                16.30%

TA-2
*Debbie Justenson       60.39%
Bill Exeter                    28.04%
Jonathan Bowman      11.34%

TA-5
Brad Monroe              41.11%
Teresa Rosiak             33.20%
Wesley Thomas Jr      25.40%

San Diego Community College

District A
*Maria Nieto Senour  43.52%
Diane Hickman           35.70%
Janette Williams         20.42%

District C
Craig Milgram            45.20%
Loren Casuto             19.18%
John B Watson           18.61%
Aviva Angel                16.25%

District E
David Alvarez             47.74%
Rafael Perez               20.63%
Sean Elo                     20.07%
Allan Candelore         11.27%

San Diego Unified
A last-minute write-in campaign prompted by the GOP means there will be November run-offs

District B
*Kevin Beiser            91.57%
Write-In                      8.43%

District C
*Michael McQuary    90.71%
Write-In                      9.29%

Board of Supervisors
Top two runoff in November

District 4
A major victory for the Democratic party. A major defeat for the Lincoln Club and Micky Kasparian’s Working Families Council. The real contest here was between Fletcher and Saldaña. Expect the GOP and their friends in the Lincoln Club to continue their scorched earth campaign against Fletcher in the hopes of depressing voter turnout enough so Bonnie Dumanis has a chance. Omar Passons waged a terrific grassroots campaign; I can only hope this isn’t the last we see of him in San Diego politics.

Nathan Fletcher         28.88%
Bonnie Dumanis        27.52%
Lori Saldaña               21.66%
Omar Passons            17.37%
Ken Malbrough            4.45%

District 5
A few months back it seemed as though the November runoff (If it even happened) in this contest would be GOP vs GOP. I believe Democrat Gomez made it through thanks to the turn-out-the-vote campaign in the 49th Congressional District.

Jim Desmond             45.07%
Michelle Gomez         22.15%
Jerry Kern                   20.36%
Jacqueline Arsivaud   12.25%

Assessor/County Clerk/Recorder
No runoff
Strabone is a class act. “I embarked on this campaign because I believe in the need for positive change in our county government. I will never stop working towards that goal, and I look forward to supporting candidates, activists, and leaders of all kinds who share a vision for a San Diego County that cares the most for those with the greatest needs, that builds healthy, sustainable, and affordable communities for everyone, and that leads with compassion, always.”

*Ernie Dronenburg    63.52%
Matt Strabone           36.30%

District Attorney
No runoff
The sneering social media coming out of Stephan’s camp in the wake of their victory tells you all you need to know about what kind of human beings they are. Race and class divisions in the donor class of the Democratic Party made this an uphill climb for Jones-Wright; George Soros PAC intervention actually worked against her, IMO. I hope Geneviéve remains active in social justice causes; her voice is one that needs to be heard.    

Statement from Geneviéve Jones-Wright:

We didn’t just change the conversation, we led the conversation. At the beginning of this race, my opponent was a tough-on-crime hardliner who thought she would just slide into her election on a silver platter. By the end she was positioning herself as a reformer, making promises she didn’t understand just to sound more reasonable.

We made real changes. We got rape kits tested. Programs that we proposed are becoming reality. And the community knows how to hold the District Attorney accountable to her promises.

This was never about me; it has always been about a movement. And the movement isn’t over. A progressive and restorative criminal justice system is the direction we need to go, and we will continue to challenge the status quo until we get there.

*Summer Stephan            63.67%
Geneviéve Jones-Wright  36.17%

County Sheriff
No runoff
It really doesn’t help your cause when the state’s top elected Democratic official (Gov. Jerry Brown) campaigns for a Republican. These down ballot races will continue to be difficult as long as the culture of County government is dominated by a reactionary view of the world we live in. I believe all these recent challenges to the status quo in San Diego County will have a cumulative effect.  You can expect Gore to fire (or forcibly retire) the man who dared to challenge his incumbency.  Small minds, y’know.

*Bill Gore                56.36%
Dave Myers            43.43%

Treasurer-Tax Collector
No runoff

*Dan McAllister     98.77%
Mark Lane              1.23% (Inside joke)

City of Chula Vista- Mayor
Correction. Earlier I sad there was no runoff. THe top two candidates will face each other in November.
EEEEEWW. Can it really be true that 17.35% of Chula Vista voters supported a neanderthal?

*Mary Salas           61.06%
Hector Gastelum   17.35%
Daniel Schreck       11.86%
Arthur Kende           9.47%

Chula Vista Council District 2
No runoff

Steve Stenberg       27.32%
Jill Galvez                25.78%
Patrick McFarland   16.00%
Steve Castenada     14.78%
Jesse Navarro         10.07%

San Diego City Council
Top two runoff in November

District 2
The bad news for incumbent Lorie Zapf is her less-than-a-majority margin in the primary. The good news is that the Lincoln Club has $300,000 or so at the ready to bolster her effort come November.

*Lorie Zapf                 44.64%
Jennifer Campbell    21.32%
Bryan Pease              18.42%
Jordan Beane             9.01%
Danny Smiechowski  2.86%

District 4
City Council President Myrtle Cole should be stunned by this result. And challenger Monica Montgomery has made the case that the “same old, same old” isn’t working for District 4. Look for the Democratic party leadership to actively undermine the challenger; compliance is more important than community for them in this contest. 

*Myrtle Cole                 39.03%
Monica Montgomery  37.72%
Tony Villafranca           17.83%
Neal Arthur                  5.26%

District 6
Incumbent Cate has a clear path to victory in November. His visibility in this district and service to constituents obviously overcame any ethics questions voters might have had. Hough is a great guy but needs to find an issue to gain traction.

*Chris Cate                 58.52%
Tommy Hough           16.00%
Matt Valenti                 9.94%
Fayaz Nawabi              5.69%
Jerimiah Blattler          5.43%

District 8
Vivian Moreno’s primary victory is a testament to the power of termed-out David Alvarez’s incumbency; he really did go all in for her and it paid off. The general election isn’t going to be so simple. There are long-standing divisions (think Hatfield vs McCoy) in the Latino community transcending politics at play here. 

Vivian Moreno         36.68%
Antonio Martinez     27.74%
Christian Ramirez     24.97%
Zachary Lazarus       10.00%

Measure A- City of Chula Vista ½% Sales tax

Yes                           52.79%
No                           47.21%

Measure B – National City Term Limits Repeal
Adios to Mayor Ron Morrison, whose hopes for another term in office were dashed in this election. Now chances are good National City will see a Latina Mayor in 2019, as Measure C prevailed by virtue of getting the most votes. And this result is another slap in the face for Mickey Kasparian, who backed Morrison mostly out of spite towards Councilwoman Alejandra Sotelo-Solis.

Yes                          50.62%
No                          49.38%

Measure C – National City Term Limits Preserve

Yes                         54.38%
No                         45.62%

State Legislature
Top two go to November runoff & that’s all I’m showing in this part.

State Senate 36th District (San Diego portion only)
Marggie Castellano     50.67%
Patricia Bates              49.20%

State Senate 38th District (San Diego portion only)
Brian Jones                 58.70%
Jeff Griffith                 38.71%

State Senate 40th District (San Diego portion only)
Ben Hueso                  58.95%
Luis R. Vargas            40.80%

State Assembly 71st District (San Diego portion only)
Randy Vopel               45.54%
James Elia                   31.19%

State Assembly 75th District (San Diego portion only)
Marie Waldron           62.17%
Alan Geraci                37.70%

State Assembly 76th District
Here’s a wowzer for ya. November’s election will see two DEMOCRATS vying for Republican Rocky Chavez’ old seat.
Elizabeth Warren        25.64%
Tasha Boerner-H         25.15%

State Assembly 77th District
Brian Maienschein     58.38%
Sunday Grover           41.49%

State Assembly 78th District
Todd Gloria narrowly beats out Lorena Gonzalez as San Diego’s most popular (by percentage) Democratic incumbent in the Assembly.
Todd Gloria                 69.63%
Maggie J. Campbell    30.21%

State Assembly 79th District
Shirley Weber             61.46%
John Moore                 38.35%

State Assembly 80th District
Lorena Gonzalez         68.21%
Lincoln Pickard           31.58%

House of Representatives
Top two go to a runoff in November; showing top 5 in each race

49th Congressional District
The biggest news in this race was Sarah Jacobs, coming out of nowhere to take third place. Call me impressed, and I hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of her. The total Democratic vote vs. total GOP vote for the 16 candidates in this contest was really close. (Oops. I was wrong) Levin’s going to want to make peace with Applegate’s supporters and that won’t be easy. 

San Diego Results                               Total Votes SD+Orange
Diane Harkey                  23.31%             28,494
Mike Levin                      16.39%             18,868
Sarah Jacobs                   16.63%             17,099
Doug Applegate             14.92%             14, 542
Kristin Gaspar                   9.47%              Didn’t make 5th place in Orange County

50th Congressional District
Hey folks, a candidate with the last name “Hunter” got less than 50% of the vote in this blood-red district. Democrats have to be hoping for an indictment to level the playing field come November. And one person who I’d just as soon see disappear from local politics is Josh Butner, who ran a really dirty campaign. He really belongs more on the Republican side of the aisle if that’s his idea of winning.

Statement from Ammar Campa-Najjar: 

Let’s get straight to the point. First, we are a nation of laws. Nobody is above the law, not even a sitting congressman. Congressman Hunter Jr. is under FBI criminal investigation for misusing campaign funds, but what’s even worse is his misuse of taxpayer funds to pass a tax bill he admitted would hurt California families. It angers me that Hunter has been enriching himself at our expense, it should anger you too. It’s time to restore integrity and give this congressional seat back to its rightful owner: you the voters. 

Second, to those who did not vote for me, know that if elected, I’ll be voting for you in Washington and will work with anyone to deliver results. I’m not running against Hunter Jr. or Trump, I’m running for you. That’s why over the next few months, I‘ll be focusing less on your personal politics and more on your personal health, personal safety and personal financial dignity. I pledge to explore unity in Congress rather than exploit division. 

*Duncan Hunter              48.52%
Ammar Campa-Najjar     16.46%
Bill Wells                         13.17%
Josh Butner                      12.83%
Patrick Malloy                    5.80%

51st Congressional District
*Juan Vargas                   64.45%
Juan Hildalgo Jr              15.04%
John Renison                  13.89%
Juan Carlos Mercado        3.07%
Kevin Mitchell                   2.06%

52nd Congressional District
*Scott Peters                       57.04%
Omar Quadrat                   15.36%
James Veltmeyer               12.17%
Danny Casara                      4.95%
Michael Allman                   4.20%

53rd Congressional District
*Susan Davis                       62.31%
Morgan Murtaugh              15.03%
Matt Mendoza                    14.31%
Shawn Gino Kane                 4.03%
Bryan Kim                             2.13%

United State Senate (San Diego results only)
Kevin DeLeon has apparently placed second statewide over dark horse GOP candidate James Bradley. 

*Diane Feinstein                  42.22%
James Bradley                     12.81%
Kevin DeLeon                        8.41%
Arun Bumitra                         5.33%
Paul Taylor                             5.07%

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Doug Porter

Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He went on to have a 35-year career in the Hospitality business and decided to go back into raising hell when he retired. He won numerous awards for his columns from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.

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