Much of the country turned a bright shade of red this week, but California remains very blue. And San Diego retains its purple hue, even with Chris Cate adding one more Republican voice to the three already on the San Diego City Council. Meanwhile, the hotly contested 52nd Congressional District is still in limbo.
California Races
Governor Jerry Brown’s anti-campaign propelled him and Propositions 1 and 2 to victory. Every other Democratic holder of a statewide office also cruised to victory. Proposition 47, which reduces some drug and theft crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, passed. Felons serving prison time for a re-classified crime may petition for a new sentence.
52nd Congressional District
Democratic Congressman Scott Peters is now ahead of Republican Carl DeMaio by 861 votes. On election night, DeMaio was up by 752 votes. Registrar of Voters Michael Vu said he hopes to be finished counting all of the ballots from the 52nd District by Saturday.
City Council District 6
In San Diego City Council District 6, Republican newcomer Chris Cate bested Democratic newcomer Carol Kim. Cate’s victory breaks the council’s veto-proof Democratic majority, and could impact the new trend of interest groups "referendizing" issues when they don’t like a particular statute. Cate is the vice president of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association; his campaign website says he is vice president of a nonprofit focused on government reform.
La Mesa
Art Madrid, mayor of La Mesa for 24 years and a city council member for nine years before that, has been defeated in a landslide. Some analysts believe it was his age, 80, and number of terms that did him in, rather than his my-way-or-the-highway style or an incident of public drunkenness of a few years ago. Madrid will be remembered for the redevelopment of Fletcher Parkway and a rebuilding of the city’s police and fire departments, among other initiatives.
North County Races
Steve Vaus, a conservative and a Grammy-winning member of the Poway City Council, is now the city's mayor. Escondido Mayor Sam Abed easily fended off a challenge by lone Hispanic City Councilwoman Olga Diaz. Measure H, which would have dropped some 400 homes onto a defunct Escondido golf course, failed. Vista and Encinitas now have Republican mayors.
