This is KPBS midday edition. Our political analyst, Carl Luna and Thad are helping us through this hour of election returns . The one competitive San Diego supervisors race will feature Dave Roberts facing Kristin Gaspar. Dave Roberts was the top vote getter with 39 percent followed by Kristin Gaspar with 34. Joining me is Roberts. To the program. Thank you, glad to be here -- welcome to the program. Thank you, glad to be here. What are you going to be doing to get your numbers up by November? Actually, this was a great victory and it shows how much the voters supported my initiative and want me to stay a supervisor. I have such negative campaigns funded by outside interest. Republican parties supported one candidate and special interest groups supported the other. They all came at me and to come out in such a strong first-place finish shows I'm the one that the voters want to stay in this race. Dave, you are seeing this as a big victory so do you think the allegations of mismanagement in your office will continue to be a campaign issue up until November? I think outside special interest continue to do that because they have nothing else to talk about and they know that my opponent doesn't have the skills I have, doesn't have the success story, can't work in a bipartisan fashion like I have for the last 4 years. I think the voters can clearly see what this is all about. It is really about the future control of the Board of Supervisors and are we going to continue to make the progress we have made or are we going to head back and have people that want to pave over our countryside and really destroy our quality of life. I am standing strong. I'm fighting for my constituents and I will continue to do that. Dave Roberts. I appreciate your time. Kristin bar I spoke with earlier -- Kristin Gaspar, I spoke with earlier today here's the interview . You came out the winner to challenge Dave Roberts in November. How do you think the 2 -- two-way race is going to be different from what you had in the primary? It will be interesting to run in a two-way race. I look forward to the challenge ahead over the next couple of months. I think the ability to focus in the messaging is a -- important. When you have 2 individuals it makes it easier to get your message across. You have criticized Roberts consistently over the alleged misdeeds in his office. To you think he will continue to do that up until November? I will continue to hold him accountable for his actions while in office because I believe strongly that we need to expect more from our elected officials, that we need people to operate with the highest level of ethics and integrity while in office. There's just no denying that even if you're willing to dismiss everything else, his inability to manage his workplace with the distraction to the office -- was a distraction to the office and resulted in 2 probably close to half $1 million of taxpayers money wasted to settle disputes and legal claims and it is really unfortunate for the people in District 3 because half $1 million could go a long way toward other important issues in the region.
Update 6 p.m., June 8, 2016
San Diego County Supervisor Dave Roberts told KPBS Midday Edition on Wednesday that this week’s election results were a huge victory for his campaign.
Roberts received 39 percent of the votes in a three-way race that had Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar coming in second with 34 percent of the votes. Finishing last was Escondido Mayor Sam Abed with 27 percent of the votes. Democrat Roberts and Republican Gaspar will face each other in a November runoff.
Roberts weathered criticism during the campaign over accusations that he had misused the power of his office. His fellow supervisors last year paid three former Roberts’ staffers $310,000 to settle their claims against the county.
“I think outside special interests continue to (make those allegations an issue) because they have nothing else to talk about,” Roberts told Midday Edition. “And they know that my opponent now in the general doesn't have the skills, doesn't have the success story, can't work in a bipartisan fashion like I have for the last four years. And I think the voters can clearly see what this is all about. It's about the future control of the Board Supervisors.”
Roberts is the lone Democrat on the five-member board.
Gaspar told Midday Edition she’s looking forward to the challenge ahead.
“I will continue to hold Dave Roberts accountable while in office because I believe strongly that we need to expect more from our elected officials, that we need people to operate with the highest levels of ethics and integrity while in office,” Gaspar said.
Update 8:30 a.m., June 8, 2016
Democratic Supervisor Dave Roberts will face Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar in a November runoff. With 100 percent of precincts reported — except for late mail and provisional ballots — Roberts has 39 percent and Gaspar has 34 percent. Escondido Mayor Sam Abed trailed with 27 percent.
Update 11:30 p.m., June 7, 2016
Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar, a Republican, appears to be the one who will face off against Democratic Supervisor Dave Roberts in November.
She said the investigation into allegations that Roberts misused his staff is still an important issue, even though he was dismissive of the matter Tuesday night.
"When all is said and done, nearly a half million dollars will have been wasted on the incumbent's behavior. That's unacceptable," Gaspar said. "That's a half million dollars that's not going to something else, and in District 3 there's certainly a lot of places we could put that money to good use that's just been wasted based on his performance in office."
Update: 10:44 p.m., June 7, 2016
Incumbent Dave Roberts said he was pleased with the early results.
“You know my opponents spent over half-a-million dollars trying to smear my record with this one incident," Roberts said, referring to the turmoil among workers in his office. "We made changes in my office and we moved forward; and I think the voters tonight are telling you that they want me to continue to move forward."
Dave Roberts' challengers, Kristin Gaspar and Sam Abed, have yet to comment on Tuesday's results.
UPDATE: 8:15 p.m. June 7, 2016
Incumbent Dave Roberts leads a pair of mayors challenging him for his District 3 seat on the County Board of Supervisors.
Initial returns after polls closed at 8 p.m. show Democrat Roberts with 39 percent of the vote, followed by Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar with 34 percent and Escondido Mayor Sam Abed with 27 percent. That's with about 10 percent of the precincts counted so far.
Should no candidate with a majority, the top two vote-getters will square off in November's general election.
Original post:
In 2012, Roberts became the first Democrat elected to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in 20 years.
Roberts replaced longtime Republican Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, who was not seeking re-election. He narrowly beat his Republican opponent, Steve Danon, by a little more than 3,000 votes, winning with 51.91 percent of the vote.
This year, two North County Republicans are challenging him: Gaspar and Abed.
If none of them wins more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, the top two vote-getters will face off in November.
All three candidates say public safety and maintaining the county’s AAA credit rating are priorities.
Roberts has also emphasized his focus on child welfare and foster children (he and his husband have adopted six foster children). Roberts has also collaborated with other supervisors on "The Alzheimer's Project" and a new regional crisis stabilization center in Escondido.
Meanwhile, Abed and Gaspar have highlighted their achievements creating business opportunities in their respective cities. Both have attacked Roberts for issues in his office last year, when four of his staff members resigned. Three accused him of creating a toxic work environment, misuse of public funds, and asking them to work on personal and campaign tasks while on county time. Roberts denied the accusations, but his fellow county supervisors paid the staffers $310,000 to settle, saying Roberts showed, at a minimum, "poor judgment."
Roberts served as a Solana Beach mayor and city councilman before being elected to the Board of Supervisors.
Abed has been endorsed by the San Diego County Republican Party, which has contributed $25,000 to his campaign. The region's three Republican congressional representatives have also endorsed him.
Gaspar has been endorsed by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Lincoln Club, which have spent more than $200,000 on mailers supporting her and on TV ads attacking Roberts. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer has also endorsed her.
Supervisor duties
The county supervisors oversee 20,000 employees and an annual budget of $5.4 billion, much of which comes from state and federal sources earmarked for regional services.
Approximately $2 billion goes to Health and Human Services, which covers the Cal Fresh program, aging and independent services, mental health and child welfare.
The county also operates the Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s Office, which together use about 30 percent of the budget.
Supervisors also vote on land use in unincorporated areas, including the proposed Lilac Hills development project near Valley Center.
District 3
District 3 has more than 600,000 residents and stretches from Del Mar, Miramar and Tierrasanta in the south to Encinitas and Escondido in the north, covering the communities of Carmel Valley and Rancho Bernard along Interstate 15.
The district has about 300,000 registered voters: 110,000 Republicans, 105,000 Democrats and 86,000 voters registered as "decline to state."
It appears the race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sparked excitement among Democrats. In the two months leading up to the primary, new voter registrations in the district reduced the gap between Republican and Democratic voters from 10,000 to 5,000.
