South county took the spotlight on Tuesday.
From Imperial Beach to Otay Mesa and Mountain View, the voters of the region went to the polling stations on the last day to vote for the District 1 supervisor – a seat which has remained vacant for months from the unexpected departure of Nora Vargas.
They did it, just like the other four supervisors were ready to determine whether the expectation of the contribution on a proposed county budget of their new colleague, who will represent around 650,000 people, justified to delay his adoption.
Many are at stake in this special several million dollars election,, Partly because the results will determine whether the Council of the current and uniformly divided county will lean towards a democratic or republican majority.
But the result may not be determined while the seven -track race ends on Tuesday. If no single candidate no longer commands 50% of the votes once they are all counted, the two best finisters will move to a runoff of July.
Jose Sarabe, from Chula Vista, knows that the board of directors faces major decisions to come and wants a representative at the table as soon as possible.
“The vote is important in this election,” he said after having dropped off his bulletin on Tuesday morning at the Town Hall. “We have just had someone who has resigned from their post, and now we are spending all this money for another election. We have to vote. “
Vargas was a supervisor from 2021 to 2024 and was re -elected to headquarters in November. She announced in December that she would not resign before the start of her second term, citing “reasons of personal security and security”.
Seven candidates compete for the supervision headquarters, which represents the cities of Chula Vista, National City and Imperial Beach, the districts of San Diego de Barrio Logan, Nestor and San Ysidro and the uncommon areas of Bonita and certain parts of Spring Valley.
Those taking place include the mayor of Imperial Beach Paloma Aguirre, the member of the Council of Chula Vista Carolina Chavez, the energy consultant Elizabeth Efird, the businessman Louis Fuentes, the mayor of Chula Vista John McCann, the member of the Council of San Diego Vivian Moreno and Lincoln Pickard.
District 1 voters had chosen a mail voting mass. On Tuesday morning, the county elections had received 51,000 voting ballots per mail and more than 400 people voted in person, said Antonia Hutzell, spokesperson for the County Voters.
Although electoral officials have declared that they could not predict the participation rate, it is generally lower during the special elections.
“The participation rate for a similar election, the special primary election of the fourth supervision district of the fourth district, was 24.5%,” said Hutzell. “Yesterday we were 14%.”
This number will continue to increase as more ballots are received and treated.
Elections officials faced a slow morning on Tuesday and an even slower early afternoon, but expected more occupied voting centers later in the typical working hours.
Barbara Jacquot, from Chula Vista, dropped her ballot to the town hall on Tuesday morning. She wants to see her mayor take a higher office.
“I voted for McCann because he is a strong mayor,” she said. “I really see the development of Chula Vista in the right direction, especially here on the west side where I live.”
She said that she believed that McCann, a republican, has the experience of developing the county of South when he directed the second largest city in the county.
“This city is flourishing,” she added. “People are working again, companies move into the third avenue and work is done on the street. I am satisfied with the way McCann led us. ”
Alex Guerra, of National City, believes that the strongest leader is Aguirre, a democrat.
“She was the most vocal on issues like the wastewater crisis,” he said after having dropped off his ballot to the National City Public Library. “It is not because the smell of wastewater does not mean that I don’t care. I went to San Ysidro High (school) and I still have friends there, and I feel for them.
He thinks that AGUIRRE would have creativity to help encourage more housing development in smaller communities and built as National City and Imperial Beach. In addition, he added: “She is the candidate that our representatives here at National City have approved.”
Nearby, Martha Leztezma, a resident of the National City, also argued Aguirre, said that she appreciated the persistent combat of Aguirre to end the wastewater crisis.
“We need someone like her at the county,” Leztezma said in Spanish.
The candidates and their supporters had less than three months to assert their arguments to the voters, but they counted the time.
Since January, dozens of broadcasters have been sent. Millions of dollars in campaign money have been collected and spent – most of them by committees supported by two unions.
The race is non-partisan, but the incoming supervisor will break the dead end 2-2 between the two Democrats and the two Republicans of the current board of directors.
Last week, during the final push before today’s primary, many candidates said they were focused on the residents’ release to vote, spending their days door-to-door in the South Bay neighborhoods and calling for voters.
But while many residents were informed of the elections, the candidates and local defenders said that some did not know that this was happening at all. And national political disturbances have made voters even more difficult, some said.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
