4 things to watch in San Diego’s 2024 elections

A race for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors pits a well-known San Diego Republican against an incumbent progressive Democrat. The San Diego city attorney’s race is wide open, and there are contested races for the City Council and mayor. And there’s the presidential election and an open Senate seat — both of which can drive voter turnout. 

San Diego voters will be staring at a loaded ballot in March and November elections this year. There is a lot at stake in each race. Here are four campaigns to keep an eye on in 2024.

Board of Supervisors

The shock resignation of county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher last year triggered a special election to replace him, a seat that was eventually won by Monica Montgomery Steppe, a former San Diego councilmember. Her victory reinstated control of the board by Democrats, but that hold could be in jeopardy again in the race for the District 3 seat.

Incumbent Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer faces a challenge from former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. The district largely covers the coastal areas of the county from Coronado to Carlsbad and Democrats enjoy a healthy registration advantage — 173,315 to 110,101, according to the latest figures from the Registrar of Voters.

Despite the blue tint of the district, Faulconer brings much to the race — name recognition built up during nearly 15 years in San Diego city politics, and a proven ability to raise money over that time. He was first elected to the City Council in 2006 and then won a 2014 special election for mayor, getting re-elected two years later and terming out in 2020.

Lawson-Remer has been part of the board’s 3-2 Democratic majority that reshaped county policies on social services, labor and other issues. She can expect strong support from labor unions and environmental groups.

When he announced he was running in July, Faulconer pointed to his work on homelessness, public safety and infrastructure as San Diego mayor. Those can be expected to be key issues in the race, especially homelessness. The district includes the city of San Diego, the epicenter for the region’s homelessness crisis, and polls show the issue is one of the top concerns of voters. 

Lawson-Remer slammed Faulconer as a career politician when he announced his candidacy, and also immediately tied him to former President Donald Trump who will likely be the party nominee for president. 

In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, she said Faulconer was “claiming to be a moderate but voting for Trump in 2020 and defending that vote even after the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Our county deserves better.”

Two other seats are being contested: Nora Vargas in District 1 and Joel Anderson in District 2.

San Diego mayor

Mayor Todd Gloria is being challenged from both his left and his right as he seeks a second term. 

While Gloria enjoys the advantages of incumbency and the support of the Democratic Party and likely labor unions, he may still face some pressure on issues such as homelessness and housing availability, neighborhood development and public safety.

San Diego Police Officer Larry Turner is running as an independent and staked out homelessness as a major theme of his campaign. He calls for “compassionate intervention, not empty promise parking lots and intrusive sweeps” as an alternative to Gloria. 

Turner has little name recognition but did garner the endorsement of Bill Walton, an NBA great and within the past year fierce critic of Gloria. Walton backs the idea of Sunbreak Ranch, which would set up a camp where the homeless population would be concentrated to ostensibly receive a panoply of services. Turner backs the concept, which at this point exists only on paper.

From the left, Geneviéve Jones-Wright is also challenging the mayor. The former deputy public defender with San Diego County unsuccessfully ran against District Attorney Summer Stephan five years ago. Since then she founded her own non-profit Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance, served on the city’s Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention among other activities. 

She highlights housing and homelessness, building vital neighborhoods in all parts of the city, and bringing “trust and accountability” to city government. 

Two other candidates, Jane Glasson and Daniel Smiechowski, are also on the ballot. 

Jones-Wright, because of her previous countywide run, may have the most name recognition of any challengers. But beating Gloria will be an uphill battle for anyone: A poll released earlier this month showed Gloria favored by 34% of respondents, with challengers in the low single digits. Nearly half of those surveyed, however, said they were undecided.

San Diego city attorney

Termed-out incumbent Mara Elliott has endorsed Chief Deputy City Attorney Heather Ferbert to succeed her as the top lawyer for the city. She’ll face off against a familiar name to many city voters: current 76th Assemblymember Brian Maienschein, who served two terms on the City Council before heading to Sacramento in 2012, where he will be termed out at the end of 2024.

This campaign may be one of the most interesting all year, as the race is wide open. Ferbert has the backing of not only Elliott but also the powerful Municipal Employees Association, the union representing city workers. 

Maienschein — who ran unsuccessfully for the office in 2008, losing in the primary — has name recognition and the backing of the county Democratic Party, and he has raised more money than Ferbert. 

The contest had some early fireworks over whether Maienschein was even eligible to run. The city charter says a candidate has to have been licensed to practice law for 10 years, but Ferbert’s campaign and others contended a candidate had to be an active attorney for those 10 years.

Maienschein has been licensed since 1994, but State Bar records show he has been an active attorney for about eight of those years, electing to go on inactive status while he was serving in various public offices. 

The dispute led Elliott to order in May a legal review by an outside law firm, which concluded Maienschien did, indeed, meet the requirements of the charter and could run. 

Sales tax for transit

In November voters will be asked to approve a half-cent increase in the county sales tax to fund an array of transportation projects. It is backed by a coalition of labor and environmental groups, which stumbled in 2022 when a similar drive fell short of the necessary signatures.

Even with enough names this time to get on the ballot, a tax increase could be a tough sell, especially if months from now voters still feel squeezed by prices and the cost of living.  

The text of the measure says half of the money will go to capital projects for transportation like improving the coastal rail route linking San Diego and Orange counties that’s now threatened by bluff erosion, building a rail link to San Diego airport, and building a new light rail line from South County to Kearny Mesa. 

A 2016 measure sponsored by the San Diego Association of Governments to increase sales tax by the same amount got 58% of the vote but failed — two-thirds of voters were required for approval. This time, the measure is a citizens initiative and needs only 51% to pass.