Category: Election

They want you to glare at the union worker asking for a cookie while they walk away with the whole jar.

By Jim Miller

Last week over at the SD Rostra they posted an interesting commentary entitled “Electing Kevin Faulconer: Make a Clear Distinction on Fiscal Conservatism” that outlined the path to a Republican victory. While not particularly surprising, the strategy suggested there is revealing in some important ways.

What, according to our friends on the right, needs to be done?

New Poll has Alvarez at 46% only 1% behind Faulconer

By Brent E. Beltrán / San Diego Free Press

The race for mayor has gotten a lot closer as a new 10 News/San Diego Union Tribune poll has big business friendly Republican candidate, and maritime industry minion, Kevin Faulconer at 47% with surging District 8 councilman David Alvarez coming in at 46% with 7% undecided.

The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA, has a margin of error of +/- 4.4% making this race a statistical dead heat. See full poll data here.

The question that the pollsters asked was: If the runoff election for San Diego mayor were today, who would you vote for? Kevin Faulconer? Or David Alvarez?

Though polls funded by 10 News and the SDUT have historically been inaccurate in favor of Republicans (see last year’s mayor’s race when they had Carl DeMaio up by 5% over Bob Filner) it is very interesting to see a poll by them that actually shows positive numbers for the Democratic candidate.

On the online San Diego Reader, there is a cartoon by Neal Obermeyer that refers to the OB felony shrub trimmer and takes a swing at District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis at her office’s prosecution of Vince Adame – charged with felony vandalism for trimming city-owned hedges, and then who had them dismissed this week.

By Jim Miller

Last Tuesday, fortune favored the bold. David Alvarez defied the pundits and political insiders and beat the prohibitive favorite, Nathan Fletcher, in the race to face Kevin Faulconer in the run-off to be San Diego’s next mayor. This was a seminal moment for San Diego—perhaps the biggest political upset in history of the city.

It just wasn’t supposed to happen.

A Report of the Point Loma Democratic Club Meeting, held on November 24, 2013

“After the Election”

By Judi Curry

The Point Loma Democrats tried a new format for their regularly scheduled meeting, Sunday, Nov. 24th. It was, without a doubt, one of the best, if not the best, meeting held this year. It was standing room only.

Three panelists were invited to participate in a “What Now?” discussion of the special election held earlier this week for the mayor of San Diego. The panelists, all well known in their own right were:

• Wendy Fry, from the NBC 7 I-team;
• Daniel Munoz, editor of La Prenza, San Diego;
• Dr. John Warren from the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint,
• and Andy Cohen, from our very own San Diego Free Press.
• The moderator was Patrick Schultheis.

By Frank Gormlie

Fifty years ago this Friday, the 22nd of November, I walked out of my English class at Point Loma High School and full of disgust threw my brown bag full of lunch away in a trash can. I felt sick to my stomach and couldn’t bare to think ab0ut eating – we had just heard that the President had been shot by someone from an overpass while he was riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

Classes were cancelled and we all went home, …

Who will Ocean Beach vote for?

Today’s the day that San Diego voters go to the polls to elect a new mayor in the Special Election.

Just whom will the mainly liberal voters of OB vote for? Will OBceans turn out in sufficient numbers today to offset their conservative relatives up in Point Loma? Will the middle-of-the-road voters overwhelm both sides of the political spectrum?

The four main candidates are, of course, Mike Aguirre, David Alvarez, Kevin Faulconer, and Nathan Fletcher.

Our sisters and brothers over at the San Diego Free Press have put together a number of articles to assist voters in deciphering just which candidate suites them.

By Jim Miller

This just in: it appears that Nathan Fletcher’s claims of inevitability have evaporated as the race to meet Kevin Faulconer in the run off is a dead heat leaning Alvarez heading into the last week. The internal polling in all three camps shows Faulconer having consolidated the Republican vote as Fletcher’s early name ID-fueled lead has collapsed, and Alvarez has continued to steadily trend upwards.

San Diego Free Press reporter Andy Cohen is slated to be among the panelists on Monday, November 11^th at a mayoral forum slated for the Cal Western School of Law starting at 6:30pm.

Sponsored in part by listener sponsored progressive radio station KNSJ (89.1FM), the panelist will also include other members of the local non-mainstream press including San Diego City Beat, La Prensa and Voice of San Diego.

By Judi Curry

Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet David Alvarez at a “meet and greet” party. Although I walked into the meeting as a Mike Aguirre supporter, I was very impressed with the way David talked to the crowd; answered all questions without hemming and hawing, and told us his plans when he becomes the Mayor of San Diego. …

Welcome to Day 2 of the Virtual Mayoral Forum put together by editors at San Diego Free Press. (See Day 1, Asking about managed competition here. )

With input from our many contributors, editors put together a series of eight questions we felt were unique, not too opened ended and not trite. We’re publishing one response from the candidates per day (Monday-Friday) so readers can see the verbatim responses side by side.

Faulconer and Fletcher Both No-Shows at Mayoral Debate

In front of a full audience, the Ocean Beach Town Council held their mayoral election forum last night, Oct. 23rd, at the Masonic Center. Newly-elected president Gretchen Newsom led her first public council meeting and welcomed candidates David Alvarez and Mike Aguirre. Nathan Fletcher sent a representative – whereas no one from Faulconer’s campaign showed.

Sixty people filled up the meeting room on the bottom floor of the two-story building on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard – some had come to hear a presentation on San Diego banning plastic bags.

Newsom cleaned the agenda and got to the forum part of the night, using her favorite expression, “without further a due”.

David Alvarez – a native San Diegan and current City Councilmember – took the floor and explained his modest beginnings. He got into politics as a community activist for his neighborhood and, stressing that his campaign and office would focus on the neighborhoods of the city, Alvarez said,”San Diego is a neighborhood city.”