Voice of San Diego: ‘District 2 Race Is On’

by Scott Lewis and Will Huntsberry / Voice of San Diego / March 21, 2026

D2 Race Is On

What do you get when a French mime, an MBA student, a merchant marine and a former mayor walk into a community center in Clairemont?

That would be a League of Women Voters candidate forum, of course.

Seven people are running for the District 2 council seat, which includes Ocean Beach, Point Loma, Mission Beach and Clairemont.

Any District 2 voters looking for San Diego’s version of Zohran Mamdani didn’t find him at the forum, which happened earlier this month. The debate was dominated by reaction to new fees, homebuilding and what the candidates viewed as poor management by current city leaders.

Allow me to break out some lanes for you that appeared evident at the forum.

The Independent/Conservative Lane: Though their politics are certainly not identical, three men seemed to be vying for this lane: former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey, a merchant marine named Mike Rickey and a Point Loma attorney named Paul Suppa.

Among this crowd, Bailey is most likely to have the best name recognition and generate buzz and money for his campaign.

They’re all very much against the recent parking fees at Balboa Park and they all support not charging for parking at beaches or parks in the future.

They all think the current City Council and mayor have done an extremely poor job managing the city’s finances and that city government needs to do a better job saving taxpayers money.

They all came out against policies that make it easier to build housing. (Suppa referred to the “devastating effects of density.”)

There were some surprises.

Suppa, despite coming off as hawkish on spending, said he was “absolutely” supportive of bike lanes. He mentioned two recent bicycle deaths that could have been prevented and said that good bike lanes will help protect children on e-bikes and help people get around the city.

Bailey, meanwhile, said bike lanes are nice but the city should be focussing on more important things. Rickey said it was “absurd” to be creating bike lanes at the expense of parking and traffic lanes.

The Traditional Democrats: This lane is fascinating.

It features a Josh Coyne, a former city council staffer who works for the Downtown Partnership, and Nicole Crosby, a deputy city attorney.

Coyne has the tightest needle to thread.

Coyne is clearly a YIMBY, who supports building more housing, which he made clear. That message doesn’t exactly play well with many coastal voters.

He also made clear that city government won’t get better at delivering services, simply through cutting and finding it efficiencies; it needs revenue.

Coyne moderated his tone more than any other candidate when asked about the concept of paid parking at city parks and beaches.

He said the city should “pause and assess” paid parking at Balboa Park to make sure that it doesn’t hurt museums and other tenants of the park. But he also said it isn’t fair that city taxpayers foot the bill for Balboa, while so many other visitors enjoy it.

Coyne is endorsed by Councilmember Stephen Whitburn and State Senator Catherine Blakespear.

Crosby has also been endorsed by prominent Democrats, such as Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe and Assemblymember Darshana Patel.

YIMBYism and raising revenue have been dominant strains of local Democratic politics in recent years, but Crosby did not strongly back either of them.

“I don’t support charging people to go to the park,” she said.

Crosby said she didn’t like the city’s ADU bonus law and that it had caused problems in Clairemont.

“It wasn’t thoughtful growth and it was really about outsider interests,” she said.

That message almost certainly will play better with wealthy coastal Democrats.

The California Coastal Independent: It felt like Mandy Havlik — who ran for Council four years ago and is a member of the Peninsula Community Planning Board — had this lane all to herself.

Havlick, when introducing herself, mentioned land use and environmental protection as two of her biggest issues immediately.

When it comes to land use, Havlick thinks the housing growth that has occurred in San Diego has largely been bad. As she proudly stated, she helped in the fight to overturn voters’ decision to eliminate the 30-foot height limit in Midway.

She’s been endorsed by the Point Loma and Ocean Beach Democratic Club.

She also thinks charging for parking in parks and beaches is bad.

In general, Havlik had harsh words for the current Council and mayor. More than any other candidate, she came off as someone ready to throw punches.

Suppa may have a claim on this lane as well, but if so, he didn’t make it abundantly clear at the forum.

The oddball: No offense at all to Jacob Mitchell, but as far as the field of candidates went, he came off like an afterthought.

Mitchell is from San Diego, went to Point Loma Nazarene University and is working on his M.B.A.

Politically, he was hard to define. Personally, he brought a nice bit of boyish charm to the forum.

When he told the crowd his mom was the biggest donor to his campaign he got the biggest applause of the evening.

Mitchell said he is against parking fees, referred at one point to ADU “favelas” and criticized rising utility costs. But despite that streak of anti-ness, Mitchell came off as curious and open-minded.

About that mime: Daniel Smiechowski has run for office several times. And though he is not on the city’s final list of candidates, he was allowed a seat at the forum… which he occupied only briefly.

Smiechowski came dressed as a French mime and when it was his turn to give opening remarks, he began to play, somewhat confusingly, Auld Lang Syne. The internet already discovered his performance and, rightfully, went a little bit wild for it.

He threw fake money at the crowd and the other candidates and abruptly walked out of the room.

Who gets through: The Primary Election will be held June 2 and the top two candidates will head to the General Election, but as of right now, we can’t handicap this race for you.