Unofficial primary election results
Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Wednesday, March 6th.
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Vote counts from the primary election are still underway after the 8 P-M voting deadline last night.
In today’s podcast, I’ll be updating you on the first round of unofficial results that came in late last night…
Those results will continue to be updated over the coming days, but we won’t have the final certified results until next month.
For the most up to date results, head to our newsroom’s voter hub… at kpbs-dot-org-slash-voter-hub.
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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for updates on the first batch of primary election results.
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In early returns for Chula Vista’s City Council District 4 race, Cesar Fernandez and Rudy Ramirez were in the lead.
In third place was former district 4 councilmember Andrea Cardenas… Less than 20 votes behind Ramirez.
Cardenas resigned last month and pleaded guilty to charges of grand theft.
But early voting had already started, so her name was still on the ballot in this election.
Still, Ramirez says he’s feeling cautiously optimistic.
"The margins are so tight that anything can happen. And everybody is kind of clustered together. So I have a feeling it's going to be a long night. So we're going to be standing by to see how things play out."
The top two candidates will advance to the November election.
A primary victory for Ramirez and Fernandez would mean that Cardenas is out of the running for good.
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Early results from the Chula Vista city council district 3 race show Michael Inzunza with a commanding lead.
Inzunza says he knocked on more than 6,000 doors during the campaign.
“I think connecting to people face-to-face and actually listening to people’s concerns I think that’s what did it. I think people don’t take the time to knock on doors anymore and actually listen to people.”
Inzunza garnered more than 50 percent of the early vote.
Leticia Munguia and Daniel Rice-Vazquez are in a close battle for second place, with less than 100 votes separating them.
Munguia says she’s optimistic her slim lead will hold.
“I’m excited, second place is an exciting place to be. I know it’s early on but I am very thankful for all the support from all the community here in district 3 and I look forward to seeing the updates.”
The top two finishers will go to a runoff in November.
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In the race for San Diego Mayor, incumbent Todd Gloria is leading with almost 53 percent of the vote.
Here’s Gloria speaking last night:
“Tonight’s results are an endorsement of continuing to do things that we have done together for the last four years. Pave more roads, house more homeless people, build more affordable homes for working and middle class San Diegans and keeping San Diego one of the safest big cities in this country.”
Larry Turner is trailing Gloria with 23 percent of the vote.
Followed by Genevive Jones Wright with almost 14 percent of the vote.
The top two finishers will go to a runoff in November.
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Henry Foster the third is leading in the race to fill the District 4 seat on the San Diego City Council.
It was vacated by Monica Montgomery Steppe when she was elected to serve on the county board of supervisors.
The District 4 seat represents neighborhoods east of downtown like Mountain View, Oak Park and Bay Terraces.
If Foster maintains more than 50 percent of the vote as results continue to come in, he won't have to go to a runoff in the coming months.
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In initial results, in the State Assembly race to represent District 75, which is east county, Carl DeMaio and Kevin Juza are leading.
DeMaio has 43 percent of the counted vote and Juza has 20 percent.
If both maintain their leads, they’ll go on to the November runoff.
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Democrat congressman Mike Levin had an easy lead in early returns.
He had about 55 percent of the vote, with his closest opponent Matt Gunderson at 23 percent.
Republican challenger Kate Monroe had about 8 percent of the vote.
But she still was enthusiastic about her plans if elected.
“The border needs to be closed. We have a massive homeless problem. All throughout California, certainly here buttoned in by downtown San Diego and north in Oceanside, we have thousands of homeless people. I have a very good solution to stop all the drugs, lawlessness that we have going on in our state.”
The top two vote-getters in the race go on to the November election.
For more of the results and the most up to date results, head to our newsroom’s voter hub… at kpbs-dot-org-slash-voter-hub.
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As votes continue to be counted here locally and statewide
… attention is turning to the states that have upcoming primaries and to the November election.
But there are more than just eligible voters paying attention.
Education reporter M.G. Perez takes us to the classroom… where current politics provide learning in real time.
“the hardest part is the paper…not the presentation…and the paper is worth 75-percent of your grade.” Vince Martinez is speaking to his students taking an advanced placement class in research. They are a mix of juniors and seniors at Otay Ranch High School…many of them will be old enough to vote in November’s presidential election. “I think the adults in power are doing a really bad job.” 17 year old Olivia Metz is in the A-P research class working on an investigation of sexism …and its impact on women’s rights in the world today. Olivia Metz 12th Grade Otay Ranch High School “I’m worried but I also think if we band together and we try…we can make changes that can help.” Olivia and her classmates are some of Mr. Martinez’s most advanced students…but they are still part of the social media generation that is inundated with information from sources seeking to influence them. Vince Martinez Advanced Placement Research Teacher “their primary motive may be profit..their primary motive may be content…or clicks…we call it click bait and they trust these voices and sources to be true and factual…when they’re not.” “I’m investigating misinformation in politics.” 17 year old Brady Peters was scrolling through his Instagram account flooded with political campaign ads about the California primary and beyond… when he stumbled on his class research topic…“it would go from like a small idea to more extremes..as you were scrolling through everything.” Brady has just completed collecting data from 114 students at his school in 9th through 12th grade. They all completed a survey after watching groups in pairs of political ad videos. Brady Peters 12th Grade Otay Ranch High School “One of the videos in each of the pair of two was false…but in the survey I did not tell the participants that one of the videos was false…and I wanted to see how truthful they would think it was.” “..after his series of decisive wins, Trump is optimistic.” At Wilson Middle School in City Heights …there’s a different kind of investigation happening. As sixth grade students watch the daily CNN 10 program…they try to figure out politics in the adult world … and the people who are the biggest players. Michael Williams is their teacher. “most of the kids know the big names…they know who Joe Biden is…they know who Donald Trump is…they know who Vladamir Putin is.” 11 and 12 year olds don’t always have a context for national and world events…so Mr. Williams uses a strategy called scaffolding …where he directs their learning starting with concepts they understand ..and then providing less support as they master the content. After all, they’re just a couple of presidential elections away from being eligible to vote. Michael Williams/History and Social Students Teacher “by the 2032 ones, they’ll be old enough to vote, old enough to participate in our democracy..so we want them to think about it as active citizens.” They are watching and listening…12 year old Jason Ramirez says this.. Jason Ramirez/6th Grade Wilson Middle School “there’s going to be an election about Donald Trump and Joe Biden and there’s like this girl saying that Trump is not going to make it…he’s going to lose..(Nikki Haley) …yeah Nikki Haley “If I was like to pick who’d win…I’d say Donald Trump because a lot of bad stuff has been happening since Joe Biden was president.” 11 year old Misael Martinez is a democratic supporter… Misael Martinez 6the Grade Wilson Middle School “if you were old enough to vote ..who would you vote for…Joe Biden…Joe Biden tell me why…because Donald Trump didn’t really support people from Mexico.//(WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT JB?) He supports people…like he’s supporting Ukraine.” Students learning lessons in a way they can understand…and finding truth on their academic journey to graduation…that’s the goal in Mr. Martinez’s class …back at Otay Mesa High School… “I can talk about my limitations, I can talk about the implications, I can defend my choices…that’s where we’re going.” Along with their grade…these students will get a vote of confidence, too. MGP KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again tomorrow for more updated primary results, plus more. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great Wednesday.
