The early returns in Tuesday’s special election for county supervisor show Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre in the lead to advance to a runoff in July.
The election is for the District 1 seat, which represents much of the South Bay and parts of the city of San Diego on the influential San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
McCann, a Republican, won more than 43% of the approximately 56,000 votes counted so far, while Aguirre, a Democrat, won almost 32%. The ballots counted so far represent 15% of the more than 373,000 voters in the district, according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters. The total votes are still being tallied.
McCann said he was feeling grateful for the support from the district.
“I'm thankful,” he said. “I'm thankful for my volunteers. I'm thankful for all the people who voted for me.”
Aguirre also expressed gratitude for her support. She said her campaign is not expecting the results to shift by the time all the votes are counted.
“I’m humbled,” she said.
The other two leading candidates in the race are San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno and Chula Vista Councilmember Carolina Chavez. Moreno won close to 13% of the votes counted so far, while Chavez won over 7%. The remaining 5% of the vote went to three other candidates.
The race will decide which party takes control of the five-member board, which is currently evenly split with two Democrats and two Republicans. The Board is officially nonpartisan, but individual supervisors often vote along party lines.
If those early results hold, that means the election will come down to a race between the two prominent South Bay mayors.
County officials have until May 8 to certify the final results.
Why it matters
This special election comes after the District 1 Supervisor and County Chair Nora Vargas suddenly resigned from the board in December. In a statement, Vargas said only that she was stepping down because of “personal safety and security reasons.”
That’s left District 1 without a county representative for more than three months.
County supervisors oversee the county government, which has a budget of $8.5 billion. The county administers different state and federal programs like Calfresh and Medi-Cal and governs unincorporated communities.
Historically, the board was dominated by Republican supervisors. But in 2020, a Democratic majority that included Vargas took control for the first time in a generation.
This year’s race could continue that period of Democratic control or shift power back to Republican supervisors. Several high-profile Democrats and one Republican are all vying for the seat.
That balance of power could have a major impact on the county’s approach to issues like immigration and homelessness.
By the numbers
Elections for San Diego County supervisors are divided regionally, which means only District 1 voters cast their ballots in this election.
In addition to fundraising by the individual candidates, the race has drawn more than $2 million in outside spending from business groups and labor unions.
San Diego County taxpayers will end up spending around $3 million on the special election, according to county staff.
Looking ahead
If one candidate does not win more than 50% of the vote, the two top vote-getters will move on to a runoff election on July 1.
If that happens, that means District 1 will remain without a representative on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for another two months.
A runoff election will also cost county taxpayers roughly $3 million, according to county officials.
