In a more perfect world, a substantive candidate would have run against Todd Gloria for San Diego’s mayor. But no one did. And it’s common knowledge that Gloria has such a lock on local Democrats that no one dared to upset his apple cart of governing. No one, except Genevieve Jones-Wright, an attorney and social justice advocate and Larry Turner, a former Marine officer and San Diego Police officer.
Turner came in second during the Primary election. And the San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board had this to say about Gloria’s dismal results.
“For Mayor Todd Gloria, the primary election results are anything but a confirmation of voters’ faith in him. In barely winning half the vote against well-meaning opponents with little mastery of basic issues, the former City Council president and Assembly member showed he would have been in real political peril had he gone against a high-profile Democrat.”
That editorial was in March. Since then, the local punditry has cast the mayoral race as a done deal for Gloria, in that he would now easily coast to a second term. Everybody, even some progressives, predicted Gloria would win the election.
Everybody – except the OB Rag and Larry Turner — the independent.
Now, there’s no connection between us and Turner but the Rag has consistently criticized Gloria for his housing policies, particularly his bogus Bonus ADU Program. Our recent “Worst ADU in San Diego” contest has clearly demonstrated the absolute folly of such a policy that has opened the flood gates of developers building monstrous apartments in the backyards of single-family residences all over the city, with no parking, no set-backs, no infrastructure or compassion for the local neighborhoods.
Of course, now, there’s a brand new poll out from 10News-San Diego Union-Tribune which clearly shows a fairly tight race between Gloria and Turner with only 37% support for the incumbent and 33% for Turner (28% were undecided).
This is shocking! With less than 2 months before the election, to see the current Democratic mayor with much less than half the vote. Even today’s Union-Tribune says that Turner has tapped into San Diegan’s bank of discontent.
When asked about Gloria’s job performance in the polling, only 15% said they strongly approve of the job he’s doing; 40% said they somewhat approve; and 33% said they somewhat disapproved or strongly disapproved of Gloria’s performance — 12% reported they were unsure.
Yet, half — 49% — said life in America’s Finest City has gotten worse.
Another question pollsters posed to the respondents was about how much they worry about the cost of their own homes; 52% of those asked said they now worry more about their housing than they used to, while 34% said they worry the same amount. Only 12% of those questioned said they worry less.
As the Independent Voter News pointed out recently:
In the City of San Diego, NPPs [no political party] outnumber Republican voters – 24% to 22% – with Democratic registered voters accounting for 47% of the vote.
So what does all this mean?
Clearly, with Turner’s numbers rising, he has become the go-to candidate for those discontented with San Diego and with Todd Gloria — even those Democrats tired of the corporate phonies on city council and those progressives upset with how Gloria and his acolytes treat neighborhoods. It’s assumed that Republican voters would not support another run with the current Democratic mayor — but all those other Democrats and liberals don’t want to see him at the helm either.
Some progressives and nearly all Republicans call Gloria “a progressive liberal” — but he’s not really. With developers who contribute to his campaign fund receiving choice contracts for massive redevelopment projects, Gloria has become more of a corporate hack, not a progressive nor liberal. (Do we need to go back 4 years or to the Primary where his friends funded Republican candidates in order to force out more liberal or progressive Democrats — Barbara Bry and Lori Saldana come to mind?)
To call Gloria a “progressive” is to do dis-service to the entire legacy of progressive-ism in this country.
That leaves true progressives, liberals, dissatisfied Democrats and independents one choice: Larry Turner. And despite his own policies, Turner has become, for better or worse, the protest candidate for mayor. People want to protest Todd Gloria — all kinds of people — and they must turn to Turner as their only option.
Larry Turner is the protest candidate for mayor of San Diego. By voting for him, a majority of San Diegans will demonstrate their discontent — and that’s enough.
Couldn’t agree more, Editordude. I was asked at a function a week ago by a stranger who didn’t like Fraud Gloria, but who also didn’t want to vote for Larry Turner as a “cop”; and she asked me to convince her.
I told her what I’ve been saying for a while: I’ve talked with Larry several times, and he’s a straight shooter not concerned with ‘finessing’ or hedging his responses. He says what he believes, but he also asks questions and is genuinely interested in knowing not only what people think but why they think it. I definitely do not agree with him on everything, but then the only candidate who would fit that criterion would be me.
Most of all, even if another candidate turned out to be an incompetent who didn’t get anything accomplished (which I don’t for a second think is the case with Larry), that person would be better than Gloria — who has spent his entire career in elected office actively destroying everything he can touch with no concern for anyone else in order to advance his personal ambitions.
Gloria is a small man constantly in search of a larger balcony, and he needs to be put out to pasture before he puts us all out of our homes.
This mayoral election comes down to character. I can personally attest to Larry Turner’s integrity and work ethic, two things in short supply at City Hall. Larry is sincere and straightforward. He actually listens to people. He has a moral compass. Todd Gloria is arrogant, petty, self-centered, and completely untrustworthy. He has no moral compass. I’m a progressive Democrat who is disgusted by the way San Diego’s progressive Democratic autocracy has sold out families and neighborhoods. I pray that Larry wins.
Yup, there’s times where you gotta flush that toilet. Clean out the attic. Take out the trash. And that’s where the local mayor and council think they abide by a different set of rules offering zero accountability to the public that elects them, pays them, and manages the taxpayers money.
Woooosh! That is the sound of me voting for Turner.
Our mayoral election is a mirror of the national presidential election. I try to remind people that it is not the figurehead you are voting for, you are voting for one of two groups. In the national election, it is Republicans, and all they represent, and Democrats, and all they represent. It is not just the person at the top. Here in San Diego the same thing is occurring. One group is made up of the city’s powerbrokers behind Gloria. The other choice is the group of people who believe the city belongs to the people. It’s not just a vote for Larry Turner, it’s a vote to bring sanity and decency to city government simply by kicking out the riff raff.
There seems to have been money driven groups throughout the years here that have relied on just schmoozing the non attentive public outside of the various scandals.
Geoff,
I will be voting for the Democrat on the national ballot, because I do not care for what Republicans stand for on the national level, which to the best of my knowledge, is the Project 2025 platform. Not to mention the awful hateful rhetoric which their National candidate and his running mate seem to excel at spewing.
For me, the choice is clear, you can either vote for the candidate who espouses unity, democracy, the rule of law, and who pledges to uphold the constitution of the United States.
Or, you can vote for the candidate who supports Project 2025, has openly said he thinks the constitution ought to be “suspended”, Has openly said he would be dictator on day one, has openly said he will weaponize the justice department to go after and prosecute political opponents, and has said that if Christians will just vote for him this one last time they won’t need to vote again (implying that there will be no need to vote when he becomes dictator).
I guess I do not have to ask which one you will be voting for.
EXCELLENT op-eds from all the authors, telling it like it really is! SD needs new people in all the available decision making seats. Stop the dictatorship mentality and secret meetings behind closed doors. People are FINALLY realizing their complacency is not getting them what they want. Vote for the candidate that listens to the public, is transparent, has common sense, has vast experience in leadership, and has worked in the real world, not just a political world. The current regime makes decisions TO the public, not FOR them and that behavior is destroying San Diego’s long established communities, and neighborhoods. Read his thoughts, policies, plans, for yourself.
larryturnerformayor.com
I’m a native SD and it’s heartbreaking what’s happened in my home town….we use to have the best police force in America, and neighborhoods. Todd has turned our neighborhoods into something we never voted on and the good people get left out of the equation…sad
Im gonna be blunt. I was really considering Turner but after watching that debate performance – yikes y’all. He cannot articulate his positions well
Well Toad made it clear his record is satisfactory to him and thinks that qualifies him for another 4 years of status quo. The concerns in the survey say different. The debate was also edited, so we’re relying on an accurate picture portrayed.
While I agree that Larry Turner is no silver tongued pretty boy, he has a foundation in law, that I believe gives him an edge in knowing what is needed to target the root causes of our homeless crisis. What is the alternative? Honestly?
He went up against a career politician, one who’s honed his public speaking and posturing for the media over several years.
I prefer an honest straight shooter who lacks finesse, to the phony we have now.
I think Turner did very well in the debate..clear policies and ideas. Much better than somnolent and slippery Gloria.
Todd is just too polished. But it’s true what Larry said — before he was mayor, Gloria had no executive experience (outside the 8 months as head of city council). Turner has been in government for 33 years.
America’s Fiscal Pity deserves better choices. Ahhh… $$$ in politics. Thanks to the conservatives in SCOTUS beginning with Lewis Powell, corporate Dems in fact do exist, and we have a fine example here.
It’s rather confusing, but our readers have come up with their own terms for San Diego: “America’s Fiscal Pity” is the new “America’s Finest City.” Except for some in the mainstream media, who uses that phrase any longer?
Are people trying to one-up the name-calling that Trump is so fond of? Here’s my contribution:
Since we lived on the beach starting from the foot of Cape May Ave and then various yards east of the Boardwalk wall in MB, as long as I can remember my dad called San Diego “Sandy Eggo, never eat waffles at the beach.” When we moved to MB it changed to “Sandy Eggo, never set your waffles down on the Boardwalk wall in a high wind.”
I wonder what he would say about the state of the city now? He switched from GOP to DEM when Nixon ran for his 2nd term, and never again voted republican to his death. But these new Dems ain’t exactly the Dems of yesteryear I don’t think. Extreme Neo-liberalism reared it’s ugly head in a deliberate campaign of blow-back over the War on Vietnam miasma from the conservatives. Reagan the B-movie actor was so good at that. Distraction as an art form that Trump learned to do.
Question: Has Turner ever admitted whom he voted for in the last two elections? I’m still curious.
sealintheSelkirks
I thought it was interesting or worse that after News10 called lifetime Independent Turner a Republican on the air, I noticed a star between the candidates. Gloria on the left with the blue parts of the star next to him and Turner on the right with red parts of the star next to him. Subtle??
Really? Did not notice that – thanks for the observation of the subtle art of TV performance. One thing I did notice was that during the separate interviews, Kimberly Hunt had an incredulous look on her face during her entire interview with Turner while Jim Avila was smiling and joking with Gloria in his interview.
Larry Turner has my vote by default. Todd Gloria is a known entity who has left a trail of construction that has destroyed San Diego.
Voting to protest is stupid. That’s how we got Trump. Agree Gloria is bought and paid for. N
What are you talking about? There are only two mayoral candidates on the ballot, and only one who deserves a vote: Larry Turner.