San Diego City Council President Tony Young is endorsing fellow Democrat, Congressman Bob Filner, in the mayor’s race. Young said he went to 10 mayoral debates between Filner and Republican City Councilman Carl DeMaio before making his decision.
"First thing I wanted to hear was truth," he said. "I wanted to hear consistency and I wanted to hear someone who was really focused on all of San Diego."
Young insisted his was not a partisan endorsement, though he said his district voted overwhelmingly for Filner in the primary. Filner said he’s honored to have Young’s endorsement.
"The majority of the council has now endorsed me," he said. "And they have worked with Mr. DeMaio for a long period of time. So, when his colleagues endorse me, that’s saying something."
But across town, Filner’s opponent was having his own news conference. During it, DeMaio highlighted a news article from 1992 that talks about Filner’s attendance at San Diego City Council meetings while he was a member. The article said Filner could have been removed from office for missing too many meetings if the council hadn’t voted to excuse him. DeMaio has been calling out Filner for missing numerous Congressional votes this year while running for mayor.
"This is a pattern of behavior of walking off the job," DeMaio said. "Saying one thing, doing another. Then asking for special privilege to be applied in his case because of his elected stature."
Filner said DeMaio is just trying to distract voters from the current campaign and take away media attention from Young’s endorsement.
