Will San Diego See a Blue Wave in Red Districts?

Campaign financial reports were filed recently, and it’s worth a look at this time to see who’s looking to be a serious contender in the five contests for the House of Representatives in San Diego.

The really juicy stuff–contributions by Political action Committees revealing the special interests backing candidates–typically come in the final months before the election, so we’ll have to wait for numbers.

Two things to watch as Field Marshall Trump of the Bone Spur Brigade continues into his second year: the investigation into purported wrong-doings by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and voter turnout in the 2018 elections.   [Read more…]

Campaign financial reports for the second half of 2017 were released recently. There’s good news and bad news, and news needing to be taken with a grain of salt.

In San Diego County, the system of passing the torch from retiring officeholder to anointed successor gives the GOP candidates for District Attorney and D4 Supervisor all the advantages of incumbency sans the need to defend past actions. Republican Bonnie Dumanis is running as a “Judge” in the hopes of creating some distance from the scandals associated with her tenure as County District Attorney.

Simply put, the County government is the biggest entity impacting the most lives in San Diego. And if you look closely, it’s apparent the decisions of the Board of Supervisors regularly favor interests whose fundamental values do not align with those of most of the people living in the region.   [Read more…]

Democrat and former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher is running for termed-out Supervisor Ron Roberts seat in District 4. The outgoing Republican held that office since 1995, managing to get re-elected each time despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans his district 2 to 1.

Fletcher dropped out of politics a few years ago after a couple of angst-filled losses while taking flack for switching political parties. Most recently he was working for Qualcomm and teaching a class at UCSD. The urge to serve returned along with a long-term opportunity to end the GOP’s monopoly at the County level.

His opponents on the Democratic side in the June primary include former Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña and Attorney Omar Passons. The winner will likely challenge Republican Bonnie Dumanis in November. District 4 includes most of the city of San Diego, spanning La Jolla to Kearny Mesa, Encanto, downtown and Ocean Beach.   [Read more…]

Part Three: The High Profile Democratic Candidates

Omar Passons is a first-time Democratic candidate running for termed-out Supervisor Ron Roberts seat. The retiring Republican held that office since 1995, managing to get re-elected each time despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans his district 2 to 1.

He’s a construction/land-use attorney lawyer and long-time North Park community activist running a campaign based more on ideas than partisanship.

His opponents on the Democratic side in the June primary include former Asssemblypersons Lori Saldaña and Nathan Fletcher. The winner will likely challenge Republican Bonnie Dumanis in November. District 4 includes most of the city of San Diego, spanning La Jolla to Kearny Mesa, Encanto, downtown and Ocean Beach.   [Read more…]

Part Two: The High Profile Democratic Candidates

Former Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña is running for termed-out Supervisor Ron Roberts seat, a Republican who managed to get re-elected despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans in the district 2 to 1.

She has a long progressive political pedigree and has maintained a high profile despite not currently holding office through her activism with groups advocating for the homeless, women’s rights, and environmental causes.

She is running against two high-profile Democrats in the June primary, hoping to challenge Republican Bonnie Dumanis in November. District 4 includes most of the city of San Diego, spanning La Jolla to Kearny Mesa, Encanto, downtown and Ocean Beach.
  [Read more…]

The motto for San Diego County is “The noblest motive is the public good.” Questions to be answered in 2018 will decide if this is possible in the future.

I hold that the government of the County of San Diego is the single biggest factor standing in the way of solving many of the social problems facing the region. Voters have an opportunity to do something about it, starting in June.

San Diegans have the means at their disposal to make meaningful inroads into challenges surrounding child development (prevention), health (addiction, mental health), housing (affordability/homelessness), and economic inequality. All we need is the political will.   [Read more…]

Arizona Republican Jeff Flake took to the floor of the Senate to make a much-anticipated speech on the President’s attacks on the media.

Given that this speech occurred on the same day as Trump’s promised Fake News Awards, his words, as reported by Raw Story, are worth sharing.

“I rise today to talk about truth’s relationship to democracy,” Flake said.
The senator said that objective truth had been “battered” over the past year, with help from “the most powerful person in our government.”
“Mr. President, it is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies,” he said. “It bears noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase ‘enemy of the people,’ that even Nikita Khrushchev forbade its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Stalin for the purpose of ‘annihilating such individuals’ who disagreed with the supreme leader.” Flake added that “free press is the despot’s enemy.”
“No president will even have dominion over objective reality,” he continued, saying that Trump was “charting a very dangerous path” with his inability to withstand criticism. 2018 must be a year in which truth takes a stand.”

I don’t want to make too much of it–his disagreements with the administration, as evidenced by his voting record, are more about style than substance.   [Read more…]

Indivisible groups and their coalition partners have announced plans to turn up the heat in San Diego’s Republican-held congressional districts in the wake of Rep. Darrell Issa’s decision not to run for re-election in the 49th District.

This week, rallies and marches in both the 49th and 50th districts will focus on the 2018 elections. Voters are gathering outside the office of Rep. Darrell Issa today to plan the next phase of work to Flip the 49th.

According to a press release, “the message to Rep. Hunter is that the united resistance is coming for your seat after you voted to raise our taxes. The message to Rep. Issa is that if you decide to run for Congress in CA50, the resistance will follow and defeat you there.”   [Read more…]