CROWDED RACES WRAP TODAY IN STATE PRIMARY
Congress, state, local office seekers vying for November runoffs
a week and a half of early voting, San Diegans today have their last chance to cast ballots in the 2022 primary election, which will decide the runoff candidates for this year’s general election.
Races include local school, city and county elections; state representatives, including governor; and members of Constrano. gress, with the two top vote-getters in each race competing again in November.
Those who haven’t voted yet can do so in person all day, starting at 7 a.m., at any of the county’s 218 regional Vote Centers, which have been open for four to 11 days of early voting and will be available until the polls close at 8 p.m.. Voters can also drop off mail ballots at the centers, or at 132 ballot drop boxes across the county.
In several San Diego County races, numerous candidates are jostling for the top two spots on the November ballot.
Seven candidates are competing in the 49th Congressional District, a possible swing district where five Republicans hope to unseat incumbent Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan CapiAfter Levin, running for reelection to a third term, faces high-profile Republican challengers that include his former opponent Brian Maryott, who lost the 2020 race, along with Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett and Oceanside City Councilmember Chris Rodriguez. Two other Republicans, Renee Taylor and Josiah O’Neil, as well as Democrat Nadia Smalley, are also running for the seat.
The San Diego County sheriff’s office has also drawn a crowded field of seven candidates. For the first time in three decades, San Diego County voters won’t have an incumbent
sheriff on their primary ballots but will pick from a wide range of current and former law enforcement professionals for the county’s top law officer.
Three candidates lead the field in name recognition, fundraising and endorsements: Undersheriff Kelly Martinez, former sheriff’s Cmdr. Dave Myers and retired Assistant San Diego City Attorney John Hemmerling. Other contenders include California Highway Patrol Officer Jonathan Peck, retired sheriff’s detentions Deputy Juan Carlos Mercado, police Capt. John Gunderson and retired sheriff’s Sgt. Charles “Chuck” Battle.
The election offers a chance to overhaul a department beset by staffing problems, high rates of jail deaths, rising crime and evidence of racial bias in stops and searches.
In the city of San Diego’s most hotly contested race, five candidates aim to unseat Jennifer Campbell in District 2, arguing that the Democratic council member is too moderate and pro-development. The race, which has become a contest on whether dense development should be allowed in San Diego’s coastal neighborhoods, includes three Democrats — former Assemblymember Lori Saldaña, neighborhood leader Mandy Havlik and former City Hall official Joel Day — along with Republican Linda Lukacs, a dentist.
In the 80th Assembly District in South County, which was left vacant after former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez stepped down in January, two Democrats, former San Diego City Councilmembers Georgette Gomez and David Alvarez, are competing to fill the open seat for the remainder of her term until November. Two Republicans, Lincoln Pickard and John Vogel Garcia, are also running for the subsequent term, which starts at the end of the year.
That pair of concurrent races for two separate terms has created some confusion for voters in the district, who are bewildered to see the same names twice on their ballot. The dual races are valid, however, and voters should weigh in on each.
The same is true for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Alex Padilla, who was appointed to the position after Vice President Kamala Harris left the seat. Because of changes in interpretations to election laws, Padilla must run for the balance of the appointed term, as well as the next term.
Primaries typically draw fewer voters than general elections, particularly in midterms between the presidential elections. The registrar of voters expects 30 percent to 40 percent of San Diego County voters to cast ballots in this primary. Turnout for the last gubernatorial primary in 2018 was nearly 40 percent, while the previous midterm primary in 2014 had just over 27 percent participation. The two most recent presidential primaries in 2016 and 2020 each had turnouts of about 50 percent.
More than 1.9 million mail ballots were sent to the county’s registered voters starting April 28. As of Monday night, 366,904 of those were returned, according to the registrar of voters.