By Michael Smolens / San Diego Union-Tribune / Dec. 17, 2023
Mayor Todd Gloria’s re-election bid may have become more complex with a challenge from social justice advocate and former district attorney candidate Geneviéve Jones-Wright.
So far, the former public defender mostly has kept a low profile as a mayoral candidate, with no formal announcement speech or extensive media interviews to talk about running for the region’s most powerful local government office.
Jones-Wright recently fleshed out some of her views on housing, the need for equity neighborhoods and accountability in government on her campaign website.
“Every San Diegan should be able to trust their City government, but that is not possible when decisions are made behind closed doors, special interests have an outsized influence, and City officials do not answer to the people they serve,” she said on wright4sd.com
Jones-Wright’s entry into the race presents Gloria, a Democrat, with something he didn’t have: a challenge from the progressive left.
He already was facing a candidate toward the other end of the spectrum — Larry Turner, a San Diego police community relations officer and political independent who mostly has focused on the city’s homelessness problem.
Nevertheless, Gloria still appears to have a clear path to re-election, despite an ornery electorate exasperated by rampant homelessness and the high cost of housing, among other things. The incumbent has locked up much of the Democratic establishment, including many progressives, along with much of the business community.
The mayor will have gobs of money and institutional resources, and his opponents won’t. Any notion that billionaire political activist/philanthropist George Soros would put money behind Jones-Wright like he did when she ran for DA in 2018 seems far-fetched against Democrat Gloria.
It’s a presidential election year with an expected high voter turnout, particularly among Democrats, and Gloria is the party-endorsed candidate.
Jones-Wright rose to regionwide prominence when she ran against then-interim District Attorney Summer Stephan, who was a Republican at the time but has since become an independent.
A mediagenic figure, Jones-Wright has gained further notice as founding executive director of Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance (known as MOGO), a member of the San Diego Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention, and through advocacy for other causes.
Turner has no such profile. Candidates Jane Glasson and Daniel Smiechowski also have qualified for the March 5 ballot.
While Gloria has broad support, he has been criticized by some Democrats, particularly progressives, for some of his policies and for not giving them the amount of input they believe they deserve. Jones-Wright could give voice to their frustrations.
But unless Jones-Wright becomes a credible threat to win, rather than an accountability candidate, Democrats may be reluctant to openly oppose Gloria.
The initial campaign question may be how much Jones-Wright and Turner can press Gloria on issues — and how much the mayor feels he needs to respond.
With just Turner as his lead opponent, Gloria could have leaned on his homeless camping ban, creation of shelter space and safe sleeping sites, and his overall policy and budget support for the San Diego Police Department.
Gloria’s support for the most part stretches from moderate Republicans through the progressive wing of the local Democratic Party.
Jones-Wright has opposed the camping ban, Gloria’s embrace of expanded police surveillance technology and some of his development policies aimed at spurring more housing construction, especially more affordable units.
Jones-Wright took exception to Gloria’s proposed change in city housing rules, which had required deed-restricted affordable units to be included in market-rate projects. The mayor and developers wanted to allow those affordable units to be built separately elsewhere.
A compromise with the City Council was reached that would allow the affordable housing to be off-site, but within three miles of the market-rate units and in the same community planning area. Supporters said this would result in more affordable housing being built.
Jones-Wright and some others still were opposed, saying it’s bad for society at large and unfair to lower-income residents who often are people of color.
“The mayor’s segregated housing plan takes San Diego in the wrong direction and back to our shameful past,” Jones-Wright said during a council meeting last week. “Racially discriminatory housing practices define much of San Diego’s current demographic landscape.”
Some council members had expressed concerns about the off-site proposal, especially the original one, but approved the revised approach as part of the overall housing plan on a 7-1 vote.
Jones-Wright has been a critic of police procedures, especially regarding use of force and who officers stop and why. Various studies have concluded SDPD officers — as well as sheriff department deputies — disproportionately stop people of color.
Jones-Wright supports a move to reduce if not eliminate pretextual stops — when an officer stops someone for a minor violation, like a broken tail light or expired registration, and uses the stop to investigate the driver for more serious offenses.
Under a so-called PrOTECT Act backed by Jones-Wright, police would need probable cause to stop, ask for identification, question, and/or search an individual. Current law requires a lower threshold of reasonable suspicion.
Some police organizations are apoplectic over the proposal. A law enforcement-backed website (stopprotectact.com) contends the law “would attempt to abolish policing within the City of San Diego.”
For now, Gloria may not appear too worried about Jones-Wright, but the mayor should be concerned about how law enforcement unions react to her candidacy.
When then-Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe ran for county supervisor this year (and eventually won), she was harshly criticized as being soft on crime by a campaign financed by the San Diego Police Officers Association and the Deputy District Attorneys Association.
Progressives condemned what they said were racist attacks against a prominent Black female political figure who, like Jones-Wright, seeks changes in how police operate.
The backlash was strong and Janessa Goldbeck, Montgomery Steppe’s Democratic opponent, faced calls to condemn the attacks, which were independent of the Goldbeck campaign.
Regardless of how viable Jones-Wright is as a candidate, that’s a position Gloria does not want to be in.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I will be more than happy to vote for a worthy candidate other than Gloria and Elo-Rivera
I will be supporting Jones-Wright when she files formally as mayoral candidate. I’m registered independent but strong leanings to Democrats, with few exceptions.
Most of my friends, especially those who are active in their communities, are either registered Democrat or independent. None of them is likely to vote for Gloria. I think any Democrats reluctant to oppose Gloria are those with money and projects they want approved, and they’re concerned about negative effects on their business undertakings. I hope I’m wrong about that.