The latest campaign disclosures this week reveal a battle is brewing in the City of San Diego’s 6th District. That’s the district held by Donna Frye, who will be termed out.
Four of the eight city council seats are up for election. In the 2nd and 4th Districts, incumbents Kevin Faulconer and Tony Young hold a solid lead. But in the 6th and 8th districts, new candidates are vying for a place on the dais to replace Donna Frye and Ben Hueso, who is running for the Assembly.
Hueso’s district, which lies mostly south of Chula Vista, is solidly Democratic. But in the 6th District, including Mission Valley and Clairemont, a last minute flurry of contributions shows the Republicans see that seat as their best chance to break down the council’s solid six person Democratic majority.
Campaign filing statements show the San Diego Republican Party gave $20,000 to Republican candidate Lorie Zapf last week. That puts Zapf neck and neck with the frontrunner in terms of fundraising, Democratic candidate Howard Wayne. They’ve both raised $65,000 this year.
The Republican Party was able to sidestep the $500 dollar limit on individual contributions by using a legal window of opportunity. The courts have lifted the city’s ban on political party contributions to candidates, and the city’s proposed cap on those contributions has not yet gone into effect.
Another Republican candidate, Kim Tran, has also upped the ante with a last minute loan of $20,000 to herself.
Democrat Steve Hadley, currently Donna Frye’s chief of staff, has raised just over $30,000.
The fifth and final candidate, Republican Ryan Huckabone, has collected less than $5,000 in financial support.
If no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote June 8th, the top two vote getters will face a run off in November.
