Category: Election

Residents of Pacific Beach and other coastal communities who’ve been watching all the maneuverings by the developer, the city and mainline politicians around what’s called the PB Tower, (or Turquoise Tower, or Project Vela), may have become familiar with the name Matt Awbrey.

Matt Awbrey has become the face of Kalonymus, the developer of the Tower as he’s assumed the role of spokesperson. Just recently, Awbrey informed city planning officials that Kalonymus planned to resubmit plans for the 23-story structure, at 970 Turquoise Street, for a fifth time. This was in response to the ongoing dispute between the city and Kalomymus.

The in-your-face aggressiveness by Kalonymus over the past year has no doubt thrown Awbrey into a position that he savors, because this is not the first controversy he’s headed up. In a statement about the Tower to the Union-Tribune, Awbrey asserted, confidently:

Marimar Martinez is the Chicago woman who was shot 5 times by an ICE agent back in October 2025 and who lived to testify about it before a Congressional committee last week.

Because her testimony was edited by every news network and effectively back paged for lack of a better term, we here quote verbatim Marimar Martinez’ testimony before Congress in it’s entirety, just weeks after getting shot 5 times and leaving 7 bullet holes by ICE. This is the testimony that should have been heard by every American and heard around the world. Marimar Martinez testimony should have dominated the news cycle last week:

To the Rag reader who sent us the following, “Marimar is strength and love personified. This is what courage looks like, and she is an example for us all.”

[00:00:00:30 – 00:00:01:57]

Thank you for having me here.

[00:00:02:57 – 00:00:13:55]

Before I begin, I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude. Thank you, Chairman, for giving me the opportunity to be here today, for taking the time to hear my testimony.

By Arturo Castañares – Editor-at-Large / La Prensa / Jan. 29, 2026

A member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has launched a campaign for County Treasurer-Tax Collector against the person a majority of the Supervisors just recently appointed to the position, while his own Party is considering supporting another candidate to run against him.

Supervisor Joel Anderson, a longtime elected Republican, just entered the second year of his second four-term on the County Board of Supervisors, but recently filed to run for County Treasurer in this year’s election cycle.

Joel Anderson

If Anderson were to win the election in November, he would vacate his Supervisor seat halfway through his term and create a vacancy his Democratic colleagues could fill.

The race for a usually low-profile position comes after longtime Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced his unexpected resignation on August 2nd after having been elected to the post six times over the past 24 years. McAllister’s current term expires in January 2027.

By Mark Sherman / The Associated Press – 7SanDiego / February 4, 2026

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed California to use a new voter-approved congressional map that is favorable to Democrats in this year’s elections, rejecting a last-ditch plea from state Republicans and the Trump administration.

No justices dissented from the brief order denying the appeal without explanation, which is common on the court’s emergency docket.

The justices had previously allowed Texas’ Republican-friendly map to be used in 2026, despite a lower-court ruling that it likely discriminates on the basis of race.

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in December that it appeared both states had adopted new maps for political advantage, which the high court has previously ruled cannot be a basis for a federal lawsuit.

Republicans, joined by the Trump administration, claimed the California map improperly relied on race as well. But a lower court disagreed by a 2-1 vote. The Justice Department and White House did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The justices’ unsigned order keeps in place districts that are designed to flip up to five seats now held by Republicans, part of a tit-for-tat nationwide

OB Rag Staff Report

This follow-up to our December 2 “D2 Candidates: Follow the Money” report has the latest figures from Campaign Disclosure Reports (Series 400). Our continued review of these public records fulfills the Rag’s promise to “scrutinize the candidates in the 2026 primary: who they are, what they’ve done, what they say, and most importantly, where their money comes from.”

District 2 includes Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pt. Loma, the Midway, and Clairemont.  Councilmember Jen Campbell is “termed out,” so the district will have a new Councilmember next year.

Josh Coyne

Coyne is in first place in D2 fundraising totals with $93,002. That money includes a $30,000 loan he made to his campaign. According to the Voters’ Voice Initiatives, Coyne raised 6 times more money from outside D2 than from inside. Many of his contributors are business leaders and lobbyists. They include:

By Frank Gormlie

Ever since armed ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis within a two week period this year, the mood of much of the country has turned against ICE and its enabler Donald Trump. Both Good and Pretti were acting objectively in protest of the masked, deadly agents terrorizing neighborhoods in the Twin Cities area.

Yet, this tragedy is not the first time armed agents shot and killed protesters in America. In early May of 1970, in the midst of college students nation-wide demonstrating against President Richard Nixon’s expansion of the Vietnam war with his invasion of Cambodia, National Guard troops fired into crowds of unarmed students at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four — two were not even demonstrating; one was a ROTC cadet and another was on her way to class.

The uproar that followed these senseless killings swept across the country like a tsunami and created a debilitating crisis for the establishment, Nixon’s administration and America’s higher education system. I know. I spent five years studying what happened that May on over 700 college campuses, and wrote a book about it in 2024 — The May 1970 Rebellion.

Amid all the crap that we as Americans are having to deal with coming out of the Trump administration, there is good news.

Local communities across the country along with some state and local officials are resisting attempts by President Donald Trump to house thousands of detained immigrants in their areas in converted warehouses, privately run facilities and county jails. These are immigrant prisons.

In red states, red counties and red towns and  cities, people are pushing back so hard that ICE officials are having troubles finding locations for their detention centers. In Texas, in Oklahoma, in Utah, in New Mexico, in Virginia, proposed ICE facilities are running into brick walls by grassroots resistance.

Why is this happening? MSNOW reports:

Federal officials have been scouting cities and counties across the U.S. for places to hold immigrants as they roll out a massive $45 billion expansion of detention facilities financed by Trump’s recent tax-cutting law.

The fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota have amplified an already intense spotlight on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, increasing scrutiny of its plans for new detention sites.

For instance, officials in Social Circle, Georgia, El Paso, Texas, and Roxbury Township, New Jersey, all have raised concerns about their locales being used and they all cite a lack of water and sewer capacity to transform warehouses into detention sites.

The American citizenry have to withstand a daily barrage of stupid, crazy and frightening declarations that emanate out of the White House — but none are more scary than a recent statement by Trump on a conservative podcast Sunday, Feb. 1, when he said Republicans should “nationalize” American elections.

“We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places.The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

Trump was on the podcast of former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

In a MS NOW report of the broadcast from earlier today, writer Steve Benen wrote:

Partway through the interview, Bongino briefly referred to crime rates, to which Trump responded with a meandering rant across a variety of unrelated subjects, including his bizarre beliefs about election administration.

by Ernie McCray

What in the hell is wrong with you
Republican Congressmen and Congresswomen?
How have you
come to losing your way
so dishonorably,
like a ship without a rudder
in foggy weather,
wandering aimlessly,
trapped in a web,
like helpless insects,
at the mercy
of a demented madman of a president
who has you, for one thing,
for instance,

Nicole Crosby, candidate for San Diego City Council District 2, announced the endorsement of San Diego Board of Supervisor’s Vice Chair Monica Montgomery Steppe, a tireless leader for working families in San Diego!

Supervisor Montgomery Steppe stated:

“Nicole Crosby has done the work for working families across San Diego—protecting communities, standing up for fairness, and leading real efforts to prevent gun violence. Her record of service and results is exactly what District 2 needs on the City Council.”

This past weekend, the Point Loma and Ocean Beach Democratic Club endorsed local candidate Mandy Havlik for the City Council race in District 2.

In their emailed announcement, the Club reported:

Both Nicole Crosby and Mandy Havlik attended and answered a wide arrange of questions moderated by Dave Fisher, President.

They also noted:

The morning of our endorsement consideration Josh Coyne’s campaign notified us that he would not be attending our meeting, they also failed to complete our candidate questionnaire that had been sent to all our Democratic candidates.

By Sarah K. Burris / AlterNet / January 22, 2026 

Former special counsel Jack Smith spoke to the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday where he clarified some details that Republicans have tried to use as talking points against him.

Legal, analyst, reporters and commentators took to social media to attack the questioning of Smith.

“Republicans on House Judiciary don’t want answers from Jack Smith. They keep on interrupting him as he responds to their questions,” said legal analyst Katie Phang.

“Jack Smith reminds us that the cases against Trump were dismissed ‘without prejudice.’ Meaning they could be brought again,” legal analyst and podcast host Allison Gill, of @MuellerSheWrote pointed out.

National security analyst Marcy Wheeler cited Rep. “Hank Johnson still has it: While we’re deposing Marshall Miller (the guy who got Jack Smith hired) perhaps we can depose Donald Trump why he hired his personal lawyer to run DOJ.”