This was a very good election year for Democrats in the region. Grassroots enthusiasm was high and it showed. Turn out, once all ballots are processed, will exceed 65%.

The local party organization used considerable resources for get out the vote campaigns in support of its endorsed candidates. Exactly nobody thought those endorsements were perfect. And there are a multitude of festering questions needing to be answered in the coming year.

Now that the election has passed, the party’s shortcomings should be addressed. Chair Jessica Hayes is stepping down at the end of the year and there appear to be exciting (mostly unannounced as yet, so I’ll hold off on naming them) candidates vying to replace her.

Also worth noting are the significant efforts of new non-party affiliated organizations in driving turnout, including Indivisible, Together We Will, Flip the 49th and Moms Demand Action. Labor organizations fielded canvassers for their supported candidatates, and non-profits throughout the county supported get out the vote efforts.

Today’s column includes election results to date, with the understanding “it ain’t over ‘till it’s over.”

The envelopes, please– here are my picks for the Demmies (™) among San Diego’s Democratic candidates.

#1. The highest overall percentage of support in any major Sacramento contest honors go to Assembly person Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, winning with 72.51% of votes in the 80th District. Assembly person (79th) Todd Gloria wasn’t far behind, with 70.29% of ballots cast.

#2. The give school trustees some love trophies go to Stacy Carlson (San Marcos) 75.17% and Kevin Beiser (San Diego Unified) 72.26%

#3. The somebody the GOP thought was beatable award goes to Nathan Fletcher for winning the D4 Supervisor seat by better than 2 to 1 (66.75%) over Bonnie Dumanis.

#4. The Democrat who the GOP thought had no chance award goes to Dr. Jen Campbell (57.36%), whose victory over Lorie Zapf gives Democrats a super majority on te City Council.

#5. The Democrat who (some) Democrats thought had no chance prize goes to Monica Montgomery (56.59%) for unseating incumbent Myrtle Cole.

#5. Not-San-Diego-city winners in the mayoral category were: Catherine Blakespeare (Encinitas) 84%, Mary Salas (Chula Vista) 71.05% and Serge Dedina (Imperial Beach) 67.64%

#6. The flip-it-good award goes to Escondido, with Consuelo Martiniez (61.58%) unseating incumbent Ed Gallo on the City Council and Mayoral candidate Paul McNamara (50.37% now pulling ahead of San Abed. A traditional bastion of reaction in the North County to be ruled by Democrats?

#7. The AMF award goes to Judge Gary Kreep, who was unseated by Matt Brower (60.45%)  

Other notes: Voice of San Diego reports David Alvarez has conceded to Sean Elo (51.02%)  in the contest for San Diego Community College District E seat.

D9 Councilperson Georgette Gomez told a gathering last night she hopes to be nthe next council president.

All of the California high court judicial candidates kept their seats with sixty four or more percent of the vote in San Diego County.

Note to retiring Supervisor Ron Roberts (and others who think this is a good idea for San Diego):

The least used emoji is now: 🚡 (Aerial tramway)

— Least Used Emoji Bot (@leastUsedEmoji) November 15, 2018

***

Lots of folks don’t realize some local races are in districts extending into other counties.

Multi-County (Orange or Imperial + San Diego) District totals

Congressional District 49
Mike Levin (Dem) 128,665
Diane Harkey (Rep) 104,794

Congressional District 50:
Duncan Hunter (Rep) 106, 823
Ammar Campa-Najjar (Dem) 95,682

Congressional District 51:
Juan Vargas (Dem) 77,459
Juan Hildago (Rep) 34,598  

State Senate District 40:
Ben Hueso (Dem) 108,051
Luis R. Vargas (Rep.) 61,446

State Assembly District 71
James Elia (Dem) 50,157
Randy Voepel (Rep) 81,377

State Assembly District 75
Marie Waldron (Rep) 71, 614
Alan Geraci (Dem) 52,794

State Board of Equalization District 4:
Mike Schaefer (Dem) 1,142,916
Joel Anderson (Rep) 1,116,857

For the first time since 1996 there will not be a single Latino Republican in the California State Assembly or Senate.

— Mike Madrid (@madrid_mike) November 14, 2018

I read the Daily Fishwrap(s) so you don’t have to… Catch “the Starting Line” Monday thru Friday right here at San Diego Free Press (dot) org. Send your hate mail and ideas to DougPorter@SanDiegoFreePress.Org    Check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

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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.

Latest posts by Doug Porter (see all)

• Last Call. Last Column. - December 14, 2018
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• Mounting the Assault on Big Gay and Other Drivel From SDSU’s Minimum Wage Scrooge - December 12, 2018