Why this matters
The 2024 election was an overhaul of the City Council. This one was a referendum on it.
In what would be a shakeup of the Encinitas City Council, the three candidates endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party were leading in the first returns released after the polls closed Tuesday night. Two years ago, Democratic party candidates went 0-3
Rimga Viskanta was narrowly ahead in a bid to unseat Mayor Bruce Ehlers. In District 3, Arielle Golden was slightly ahead of Ed Sprague. In District 4, Brad Lefkowits had a significant lead over Marco San Antonio.
The tally so far consists of about 18,000 ballots cast in the mayor’s race and 4,000 to 5,0000 since early voting began Oct. 5. Tuesday’s votes will be added to the totals to decide who represents the 60,000 residents of Encinitas through 2028. San Diego County voting officials expect to post additional updates Thursday, Friday and Monday evenings and have until Dec. 3 to certify the election results.
The races are technically nonpartisan, but party affiliation can affect fundraising and get-out-the-vote campaigns as well as any number of positions affecting city government.
A Democratic party sweep would signify a backlash to the current City Council and end the conservative shift the city has taken in recent years.
In the 2024 election, all three candidates endorsed by the County Democratic Party lost their elections. In that election, Ehlers, a Republican-turned-independent, ended eight years of liberal leadership in the Mayor’s Office under Catherine Blakespear and Tony Kranz.
The San Diego County Republican Party did not endorse anyone in Encinitas in 2024 or 2026. San Antonio and Sprague, both Republicans, were endorsed this year by Republican state Assemblymember Carl DeMaio’s conservative Reform California group.
Tuesday’s results could herald a return to more liberal leadership for the city.
Viskanta, current San Dieguito Union High School District Trustee, was leading Ehlers.
Eastern District 4 includes New Encinitas and Olivenhain. Lefkowits, a landscaper designer and member of the Urban Forest Advisory Committee, was leading incumbent Marco San Antonio.
In Cardiff’s District 3, Golden, former chair of the North County Food Policy Council, was leading Ed Sprague, a retired firefighter and former Olivenhain Municipal Water District board member.
Golden would replace Councilmember Joy Lyndes, who is currently the lone Democrat on the City Council and is retiring at the end of her term next month.
Encinitas politics on a pendulum
Encinitas incorporated as a city in 1986, in large part to stop being at the mercy of unincorporated San Diego County government housing policies.
That issue has driven debate in Encinitas ever since.
Read our most recent reporting
Currently, the city has almost two registered Democrats for every registered Republican. But in 2024, some voters who favored Democrats further up the ballot gave local conservative candidates the edge in Encinitas.
That year, Ehlers, Luke Shaffer and Jim O’Hara all beat candidates backed by the San Diego County Democratic Party while running as independents with a no party preference designation.
People across the political spectrum agree that they won in large part due to a backlash over housing politics. They ran on fighting state mandates and pushing for more local control.
But some voters have since said they came to regret voting for the more conservative candidates in 2024.
A mix of increasingly adversarial City Council meetings, sometimes with fights either on the dias or among city councilmembers and the crowd, was front of mind for some voters in this election.
As part of its focus on “local control,” the current council has made a series of decisions that aim to reverse efforts of previous city leadership — most notably their former mayor Blakespear.
That included suing the developers of an apartment complex the previous City Council had approved, attempting to upend a $3 million project completed last year to redesign Santa Fe Drive and spending $3.5 million to redo it, and declining to apply for a $4 million grant for eradicating homeless encampments because it was worried there were strings attached.
Immigration issues have also emerged in Encinitas politics, especially amid an escalation of arrests in recent weeks.
Last month, the City Council voted on six measures to restrict federal immigration agents. Dozens of people came to the meeting to speak. Shaffer and O’Hara initially called the proposal from Councilmember Lyndes a “political stunt,” but ultimately voted in favor of the measure.
The City Council had twice voted on measures related to immigration in August and September 2025, and there were several protests and demonstrations leading up to last month’s vote.
The City Council had success in securing a federal grant of $33.6 million for railroad crossing improvements. It has also worked to improve traffic and road safety, and made a range of infrastructure improvements.
Like the last election, this one was hotly contested and got nasty at times, both in City Council meetings and on social media.
It remains to be seen what the future of the city will look like, and what a new council’s priorities will be.
New members will be sworn in next month.
This is a developing story. Check back tonight for updates.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
