Another Republican has just jumped into the race for City Council District 2. Kevin Melton announced today, Feb. 21, that he is a candidate. He will join a large list of candidates heading for the June Primary, most of whom are Democrats. Up to now, there was only one other Republican running against incumbent Republican Lorie Zapf.
Melton claims in his announcement that he “will fix a broken council, solve the homeless problem once and for all, bring in more high paying jobs and solve the vacation rental issues in his district.”
A native of Los Angeles, Melton moved to San Diego in 2008 and apparently has been campaigned for numerous offices for the last 17 years or so. Most recently he ran from San Diego for the District 78 Assembly Race in 2016.
From his website, we have the following:
Kevin started his political career in 2001. He ran for Los Angeles City Council in 2003 and again in 2007. Kevin moved back to San Diego in 2008 living in Pt. Loma and now currently downtown. He recently worked on the campaign finance committee to elect Kevin Faulconer as mayor. He also ran in the 2014 California State Assembly race for the 78th District.
It also states:
Kevin Melton … comes from a long line of leaders Including his grandfather, an influential member of the NAACP and responsible for obtaining the right to vote for African Americans in his county.
Melton joins a crowded field. There’s Democrats Bryan Pease – the environmental lawyer and Jordan Beane, the former Chargers employee; Dr. Jen Campbell, another top-ranked Democrat; (independent Jim Bell is out of the race due to medical reasons) –; Daniel Smiechowski; and Republican incumbent Zapf and on Zapf’s right, there’s Joshua Tomolak, a gun-rights advocate.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Somebody has to ask.
‘ …comes from a long line of leaders Including his grandfather, an influential member of the NAACP and responsible for obtaining the right to vote for African Americans in his county.’
Kevin…You are a member of a party that is doing everything it can to suppress the right to vote of ALL minorities. Absolute proof is out there. The only way Republicans win elections in the last 50 years is to cheat. Redistricting, gerrymandering, strict ID laws, cross-check, two-tiered registration, early voting restrictions, criminal convictions, intimidation, and so on.
So Kevin, why are you a member of today’s Republican party?
Because he likes to struggle against low odds of success?
Seriously, there was a time when all African-Americans were Republicans, because all the Democrats in the South had been pro-slavery, but that was 90 years ago. It took FDR, and 30 years of civil rights work to see the shift take place (the Dixiecrats joining the GOP in the Nixon period really helped).
Let us see if Kevin Melton can be better than his party.