Early returns in Tuesday’s midterm elections show Jose Rodriguez in the lead for mayor of National City.
Bush and Rodriguez are both Democrats and have each served on the City Council since 2020. They’re competing to succeed National City’s outgoing mayor and longtime political fixture, independent Ron Morrison.
Whoever wins the race will face the task of navigating National City’s emerging $13 million structural budget deficit. Both candidates have promised to close that gap without cutting into public services like the library and the senior nutrition center.
Bush, a former-affordable housing development project manager and planner, is running on making it easier for developers to build new homes — and for residents to pay for them.
Rodriguez, a former-tenants rights and labor organizer, wants to impose rent stabilization on apartment buildings and offer more resources to immigrant families amid the Trump administration’s ongoing mass deportation campaign.
Two other candidates, Jacobb Castrejon and Mitch Beauchamp, are also running for mayor this fall. Neither has reported receiving any endorsements or campaign donations.
Why it matters
National City is a charter city with a council manager system. Under this system, the city council selects a city manager to oversee the day-to-day operations.
City councilmembers propose and debate local laws and policies. They make important decisions on how to spend public tax dollars, including expanding municipal services or cutting public programs to fund other priorities.
The mayor of National City mostly serves as another member of the city council, but with a few added responsibilities. For example, the mayor has more of a say in what items are on the weekly city council agenda.
The mayor also typically represents the city at many official events and in regional bodies like the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG).
By the numbers
Rodriguez has raised over $70,000 and spent even more, according to the campaign finance data tracker, the Ballot Book.
Most of his money came from individual donors, according to the Ballot Book, with a significant share coming from labor unions. Around a third of his donors were based in National City.
Rodriguez himself made the largest individual contribution to his campaign so far, contributing a total of $9,000 to his campaign since June.
Bush had raised over $34,000 and spent around $26,000. Donations to his campaign came almost entirely from individual people. Around a third of those donors said they lived locally, while over two-thirds came from outside National City.
The race has also drawn a significant amount of attention from independent committees. Those are political spending groups that operate separately from the candidates’ campaigns.
A committee tied to the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce has spent over $65,000 to support Bush — and a little over $10,000 opposing Rodriguez.
Rodriguez’s campaign has also drawn nearly $44,000 in support from a committee connected to the San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council, a regional labor union.
Neither Beauchamp nor Castrejon have reported any campaign donations or spending.
