Voters in San Diego County's First Supervisorial District will receive postcards this week listing voting options for the April 8 special primary election to replace Supervisor Nora Vargas, it was announced Monday.
More than 376,000 postcards are heading to registered voters Monday to elect a person to fill the district's vacant seat for the remainder of the current term on the Board of Supervisors that ends in January 2029.
According to the county, if no candidate receives a majority vote at the April 8 election, the top two vote-getters will move on to the special general election July 1, 2025. Only those who live in the district can vote in the election.
Late last month, following a resounding re-election victory, Vargas surprisingly said she would resign on Jan. 6 — the date her first term ended.
"Due to personal safety and security reasons, I will not take the oath of office for a second term," she said in a statement at the time. "It has been my honor to serve in public office during unprecedented times, including the past four years on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
Lawson-Remer is acting chair after a vote to pick a new leader failed. Lawson-Remer, officially vice chair, was nominated by Montgomery Steppe to be chair to succeed Vargas. Desmond nominated himself as chair, but that attempt failed on a tie vote. He and Supervisor Joel Anderson voted in favor, while Lawson-Remer and Montgomery Steppe opposed.
Multiple South County officials have put their names forward for the seat — including Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, San Diego City Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Chula Vista City Councilwoman Carolina Chavez.
With the departure of Vargas, a Democrat, the board's current makeup is two Democrats (Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe) and two Republicans (Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond). The board is considered a nonpartisan governing body.
In 2023, supervisors approved a special election to replace District 4's Nathan Fletcher, who resigned in May of that year due to sexual harassment allegations that he has denied.
Vargas was elected to the board in 2020, replacing former Supervisor Greg Cox on Jan. 4, 2021. She was the first Hispanic woman to serve on the board.
She succeeded Fletcher as board chair after his resignation amid scandal.
District 1 covers nearly all of San Diego County's southern reaches, from the ocean to the Otay and San Miguel mountains in the east and from Barrio Logan in the north and the U.S.-Mexican border to the south.
Residents can find out what district they vote in at sdvote.com.
Early voting begins Monday, March 10 at the Registrar of Voters office in Kearny Mesa, 5600 Overland Ave., but residents can vote at home and return ballots through the mail or drop them off at any of 26 official ballot drop-boxes starting Tuesday, March 11 through Election Day.
Starting Saturday, March 29, seven vote centers will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until the final day of voting, Tuesday, April 8, when 13 vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
