In the final days of the campaign, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis says she is supporting a fellow Republican, City Councilman Carl DeMaio for San Diego mayor. She said DeMaio is a workhorse who will listen to everyone if he’s elected.
But Dumanis spent much of the endorsement news conference talking about DeMaio's opponent, Democratic Congressman Bob Filner. She played off some common DeMaio refrains, including that Filner’s temperament makes him unfit to be mayor and that he has issues with women.
"I’ve been in this community for 40 years," she said. "I know that he is disruptive, disrespectful and demeaning, especially to women."
Dumanis said she felt Filner was disrespectful toward her during the mayoral primary campaign. Dumanis finished fourth in that race. The DeMaio campaign has increasingly made Filner's personality an issue in the race and now appears to be targeting women voters, which polls have shown tend to be more supportive of Filner.
In response to Dumanis' endorsement, Filner’s campaign put out a list of women who have endorsed him, including Congresswoman Susan Davis and former City Councilwoman Donna Frye and emphasizing the support Filner has received from the law enforcement community. His campaign also put out an additional statement specifically addressing Dumanis' comments:
"The nearly unanimous support Bob has received from San Diego’s women, elected officials and women’s organizations shows that Ms. Dumanis’ personal attack – parroting the DeMaio party line – has more to do with currying favor from far-right elements in the Republican Party than it does with the reality of Congressman Filner’s long record of support for women and women’s issues.”
A recently-released poll from SD Metro Magazine shows DeMaio and Filner in a dead heat for mayor, with DeMaio leading 41.3 to 40.5 percent. More than 18 percent of respondents said they’re undecided.
