Recall Campbell Campaign Closes Down

On Tuesday, the OB Rag was sent an email by the Recall Campbell campaign announcing that the effort did not reach their goal of 14,000 signatures, “not enough to force the recall of Jennifer Campbell.”

Campaign organizers stated they did garner over 10,000 signatures, however. In their statement, the campaign said:

The pandemic combined with competing signature-gathering efforts for other political races and Jennifer Campbell’s low name recognition proved to be an insurmountable challenge.

They were up against “an establishment candidate backed by deep-pocketed special interests ….” and up against the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The effects of the pandemic cannot be overstated. Doing the door-to-door, person-to-person canvassing for signatures during the COVID-19 surge appeared to be an impossibility, and the fact that they obtained over 10,000 District 2 voters to sign is a testament to the strength of the dissatisfaction with Jen Campbell.

The recall campaign signaled that it would be pivoting its efforts to the 2022 election instead.

Several issues drove the recall effort: Campbell’s backtracking on commitments she made during her election in 2018, such as support for the 30-foot height limit and her stance against short-term vacation rentals. She engineered what is now seen as a premature move to disassemble the height limit in the Midway area, and she crafted a “compromise” with the largest short-term home rental corporation in the world that poured gasoline on smoldering embers that were already destroying the area’s housing stock.

The OB Rag published numerous articles on how Campbell went back on her word on these two crucial issues in her district. (It should be noted as well that the voters of the Midway District and a majority of the voters in District 2 voted against Campbell’s Measure E that would allow massive redevelopment in the Midway.)

Even Scott Lewis at the Voice of San Diego understood the recall campaign “would not have happened at all had Campbell not tried to forge a compromise to regulate vacation rentals.” Other voices expressed their displeasure with Campbell as well.

Just as a comparison, in the primary for San Diego City Council District 2 on June 5, 2018, Campbell only received 6,871 votes, 500 more than candidate Bryan Pease. Of course, Campbell eventually won the general election that year with 32,439 votes to Lorie Zapf’s 23,516. The point being that over 10,000 is still a lot of voters.

Naturally, Campbell, her consultants and allies disparaged the recall campaign. They became so desperate in the waning days of the campaign, that they attempted to link the recall effort with right-wing extremist Trump supporters. But the folks who began the recall were her constituents – many of whom are Democrats and progressives. Even the Point Loma – Ocean Beach Democratic Club came out in support of the recall.