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KPBS Midday Edition

How Will Blue Wave Impact North County Elections?

By Alison St John / Reporter,  Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host
Published October 27, 2020 at 1:08 PM PDT
This story was published more than 4 years ago.
San Diego County District 3 supervisor candidates Kristin Gaspar and Terra Lawson-Remer are pictured in this undated photo.
Gaspar and Lawson-Remer campaigns
San Diego County District 3 supervisor candidates Kristin Gaspar and Terra Lawson-Remer are pictured in this undated photo.
How Will Blue Wave Impact North County Elections?
Elections in San Diego’s North County will determine, among other things, the direction of the county Board of Supervisors, the leadership of several cities and what growth and development will look like in Oceanside and Poway.
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Elections in San Diego’s North County will determine — among other things — the political majority of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, the leadership of several cities and what growth and development will look like in Oceanside and Poway.

One of the big questions going into the election season was whether Democrat Rep. Mike Levin was going to be able to hold on to the 49th District Congressional seat, which represents voters in both San Diego and Orange Counties. Levin won the seat in 2018 as part of an increase in registered Democrats in North County, the so-called blue wave.

Levin is being challenged by Bryan Maryott, a Republican who currently works as a certified financial planner. This was expected to be a tight race but a recent San Diego Union-Tribune/10News poll, conducted by SurveyUSA, shows Levin leading by 20 points.

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RELATED: North County’s 49th District Flipped Parties In 2018. Could It Flip Back?

The blue wave appears to be continuing in North County. According to data from the Registrar of Voters, as of Sept. 30 there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Marcos and Escondido, Vista, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar heading into next week's election. Poway has more registered Republicans than Democrats.

The most significant race to watch in North County is the San Diego County Board of Supervisors District 3 race between incumbent Republican Kristin Gaspar, and Democrat Terra Lawson-Remer, who gained notoriety for leading the campaign to successfully "Flip the 49th" Congressional District from Republican to Democrat.

RELATED: Control Of County’s Board Of Supervisors Hinges On Third District Race

If Lawson-Remer were to win the race, it would shift the balance of power on the board of supervisors from Republican to Democrat. Lawson-Remer has voter registration on her side with more registered Democrats in the district than Republicans.

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According to a new poll by Voice of San Diego, Lawson-Remer leads Gaspar among likely voters by 11 points, 42% to 31%, with 27% of respondents in the district undecided.

There are several mayors’ races taking place in North County. There are 12 candidates vying to lead Oceanside, its current mayor, Republican Peter Weiss, is running for a seat on the city council in a more politically conservative district. The two open city council seats in Oceanside could however be more important because they could shift the balance of power to a majority Democrat council depending on who wins.

RELATED: Poway To Vote On Fate Of Defunct Country Club

In Encinitas, incumbent Democrat Catherine Blakespear is running for a second term. Blakespear is dealing with community dissatisfaction over the issues of growth and development in Encinitas from people who want to keep the small seaside village feel in Encinitas. She is being challenged by Julie Thunder, a former Republican now registered Independent who is running on a campaign promoting slower growth and less development.

Growth and development is a key issue in most North County elections. There are two measures to approve or reject major new housing developments, Oceanside’s North River Farms and The Farm in Poway. Both of these developments have been approved by their respective city councils but there is vehement opposition to the developments from the community.

RELATED: Measure L: Deciding The Future Of Oceanside’s Farmland

KPBS’s North County specialist Alison St. John discussed the top North County issues and races Tuesday on Midday Edition

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KPBS Midday Edition North CountyPolitics, Democracy and Elections News
Alison St John
Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.
Maureen Cavanaugh
Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.
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