San Diego County Democrats Endorse Gloria In Mayor’s Race

Speaker 1: 00:00 A final decision from voters is more than a year away for San Diego's next mayor, but assemblyman Todd Gloria is already receiving some high profile endorsements this week. The county Democratic Party voted to endorse Gloria over council woman, Barbara, Bree, and social justice activists. Tashia Williamson KPBS Metro reporter Andrew Bowen has been reporting on this race and joins us with more. Andrew, welcome. Thanks Jane. So break it down for us. How did the vote go down earlier this week? Was it a contentious process going into it? It hasn't been the ugliest of races at this point in the race. All the main candidates are democrats, so they're really not light years apart on the various issues that are relevant to the city. But it was clear from the beginning that councilwoman Barbara Brie definitely had an uphill battle with this endorsement. Gloria was already endorsed by several elected officials, including state lawmakers, Governor Gavin Newsome, a lot of key local labor unions. Speaker 1: 00:56 And so Bree had to have known going into this, that this was the likelier outcome, that the party would choose. Gloria over her. I spoke with the party chair, will Rodriguez Kennedy, and he said that he was actually surprised by the speed with which the Democratic Party's central committee actually came to this decision and the relative unanimity. So 71% of the voting members voted to endorse Gloria. And so he said, uh, he thought that the, that the party leaders were further apart on this issue, but the vote was in fact quite overwhelming. And is it unusual for the county democratic party to endorse a mayoral candidate and months before the primary like this, it's hard to compare with the most recent may oral race. That was in 2016 and at that time there was no major candidate, the Democratic candidate in the race until three months before we were actually voting. Speaker 1: 01:44 So brie and Gloria have been in this race since January. We'll Rodriguez Kennedy, the party chair that I spoke with said he made clear this is not, he didn't want to call this an early endorsement, but let's also acknowledge the primary in 2020 is earlier this year. It's in March. Whereas last time around, it was in June. So we're six and a half, about six and a half months away from the race at this point. Take that for what you will, I guess. Right. And as you said, Gloria has already wrapped up a number of endorsements from high profile Democrats. What's the significance of winning the counties party's endorsement? The county party has a symbolic significance. So many voters are probably not paying very close attention to the race. And when they see that the party has picked their candidate, they may be more likely to just follow what the party is recommending. Speaker 1: 02:30 A, the bigger boost I would say is financial. So being endorsed by the county party gives Gloria and edge in fundraising. He can go to the fundraisers and say, I'm the party's preferred candidate. And also the party can spend money on Gloria's behalf through a, what they call member communications. These are usually mailers that they send to a registered Democrats and they can, you know, basically look the same as the mailers that Gloria his own campaign is, is sending out. Um, but not having to communicate with registered Democrats, uh, allows the Gloria's campaign to then focus on perhaps reaching out to independence or even Republicans or other constituencies. Are there stark differences between the Democrats and the mayor's race? You know, what are they saying they would do for San Diego? Gloria has definitely made building more housing, a central issue in his campaign. Also improving public transit and addressing homelessness. Speaker 1: 03:24 There was a forum that they held recently in one policy point that he said was he wants to make the mayor's office responsible for homeless programs in the city rather than the housing commission, which is currently, uh, a, the organization that's running those programs. He thinks that would provide more direct in greater accountability to the, to the mayor, uh, him or herself. Uh, Bree has been talking about some of those same issues, but on somewhat different terms. Just today she called for a ticket forgiveness program for people who have been living in their cars. So she wants to kind of provide some relief. It's also perhaps worth noting that she did vote for the ordinance that made it illegal again for people to live in cars. Um, she's also made scooters part of her campaign. She said she wants a moratorium on electric or a ductless scooters and she's kind of a forced Gloria to explain his position on that. Speaker 1: 04:15 And one thing that is very notable is she's really attacking the [inaudible] movement. This is the yes, in my backyard is sort of, um, a group that wants to build more housing, both affordable and market rate housing. And Gloria has really embraced that movement. The UMB Democratic Club has endorsed Gloria, so that's kind of a distinction as well. And now that the Democrats have made an endorsement, what about the Republicans? Are there any signs someone may enter the race? Yeah, it's getting later and later each day. And there's still no major republican or independent in the race of the two names that get thrown around. Most often perhaps are, uh, two city council members, Mark Kersey and Scott Sherman Kersey earlier this year, uh, left the Republican Party and became an independent. So that could play in his favor perhaps, or it could also complicate, uh, some of the support that he would otherwise get from the party faithful. Speaker 1: 05:07 Uh, Scott Sherman has said in the past that he's really done with politics after his two city council terms. So, um, you know, that would be a question he might have to answer. If, if he was really sincere about that, um, then why would he be running for mayor? But yeah, we're still waiting for someone else to enter the race. So if no republican actually jumps in, how do you think that'll shape the race between Todd, Gloria and Barbara? Yeah, it'll be interesting to see where they positioned themselves. So, um, Bree could certainly, uh, courts the conservative, uh, interest groups like the Chamber of Commerce at the Lincoln Club. They typically spend a lot of money through a independent expenditure committees or super packs and a Republicans and conservatives could also just decide to stay out of the mayor's race and perhaps just focus more on other priorities next election year. Like the county board of supervisors. I've been speaking with Andrew Bowen, KPBS Metro reporter Andrew, thanks so much. Thanks, jade.