S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show , a breakdown of your ballot with the race for Congressional District 48. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. With less than two weeks to Election Day , we're continuing our ballot breakdown on Midday Edition. Now , let's turn to Congressional District 48. It was redrawn last year with the passage of statewide proposition 50 , and with Republican Darrell Issa retiring from the seat , Democrat Marni von Wolpert and Republican Jim Desmond are competing to replace him. We should note that we reached out to both candidates , Marney Van Wilbert and Jim Desmond , to join us for a candidate forum. Marni von Wilbert made herself available and agreed to participate , but we did not hear back from Jim Desmond. Our goal with these forms is to give voters the opportunity to hear from both candidates side by side , and weigh their responses to the same questions. We believe voters deserve to hear directly from the people running to represent them. So without both candidates participating , we are turning to our own reporting to help voters understand what's at stake. Joining me is Jake Gatta , public Matters reporter for KPBS. Jake , welcome.
S2: Thank you for having me.
S1: And Jake , you did speak with with both of these candidates. Um , I do want to start with a refresher on how prop 50 changed district 48. I mean , what do those lines look like now? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. So the the changes were to shift voter registration totals. That was the point of prop 50. And there are now more registered Democrats in that district than Republicans before prop 50. That was flipped. And it also looped in more voters from Riverside County and some from Palm Springs as well. So there's a bit of a new demographic of voters in the district.
S1: And that's significant on on a national level. Why?
S2: Well , so this all started with Republicans redrawing their map in Texas. President Trump called on Texas to redraw their congressional map to be more favorable to Republicans , to help them win House seats in this midterm election that we're having. And prop 50 was California's response to that. Governor Newsom in the legislature wanted to counteract what Texas was doing with their own redistricting. And , you know , it matters because this is going to decide who controls the House of Representatives , all of these races. Sometimes it comes down to just a few seats. And so it really is going to be a big issue controlling the House of Representatives , because that gives whoever controls the House power over budget negotiations , power over legislation , and important to the Democrats the power to launch investigations into Trump and his administration. And the Trump administration seems to be worried about that.
S1: Two candidates now are running to replace Republican Darrell Issa , and that's Democrat Manie Van Wilbert and Republican Jim Desmond. Let's start with with Desmond. What's his story? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. So County Supervisor Jim Desmond has been in some sort of elected office in San Diego County. For a long time , he started on San Marcos , a city council , in 2004. He was there mayor for more than a decade before becoming a county supervisor. And he's been a pretty mainstream Republican , running in Republican leaning districts his whole career. That's going to be different this election. But he talks a lot about gas prices being too high , needing a secure border , and he's kind of running against California and its policies more than for Congress , I would say. And when asked about , you know , the war on Iran's impact on prices , he made sure to point out that California already has the highest gas prices in the county. So he's really focused on , you know , California issues , but in a way that's maybe deflecting from some of the larger ones at hand. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. What about Marni von Wilford? What experience is she bringing to the race.
S2: So Vaughn Wolper is a San Diego City Council member right now. She's a former deputy city attorney. She was in the Peace Corps. She worked as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board , which is a federal agency that basically ensures the right to unionize for workers. And when she ran for city council , she ran for a seat that had been held by Republicans for a long time. It was Carl DeMaio seat at one point. And then there was another Republican who held it before she ran. And then she beat a Republican in that election as well. So she does have some experience beating Republicans in competitive districts.
S1: And affordability is one of the leading issues in this race. How are both candidates planning to tackle that? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Both candidates have talked about affordability a lot and in particular housing affordability , which we all know is one of the biggest issues here in California and in San Diego. And so here's what they both said about how they tackle housing affordability.
S3: Well , for first time homebuyers , you know , I'd like to be able , if we can lower the interest rates or give or give a break on down payments or any other ideas. And then for seniors even. Quite frankly , a lot of seniors are staying in the houses where they raise the kids. Because of the high capital gains tax that's put on , it was put in place in 1998 and hasn't changed , you know , since or gone along with the time. So you know. The lower interest rates that help with down payments and then hopefully hopefully you know , getting seniors to , you know , sell their homes or turn on the market.
S4: We have to start building truly affordable housing in this in this state. You know , here at the city of San Diego , we started cutting the bureaucracy and red tape that was making it costlier to build affordable housing. Affordable developers are now guaranteed a housing permit within 30 days , so we don't add to their costs. We need more housing for seniors who are increasingly priced out on a fixed income , and I'm proud that my district in San Diego has been home to new senior housing.
S1: You know , just a question. You know , when I hear them both talk. Do any of those ideas that they presented seem like something that is feasible , that they could do well.
S2: So to some extent , yeah , the down payment assistance option. I mean , there already are programs like that in San Diego at the state level. At the federal level , that's definitely something that the federal government could put more money towards. And affordable housing. That's something that the federal government definitely could put more money towards. That's something the federal government has a lot of control over , because a lot of the issue with building affordable housing is getting financing from somewhere , whether it be a nonprofit or the state or the city or the federal government. And so investing more money into affordable housing from the federal government level is just going to direct a lot of money to projects around , you know , the county around the state that are , you know , truly affordable and 100% affordable developments that wouldn't be built otherwise. So , yeah , there's a lot that you can actually do about housing right here in the county from the federal level. And it's just two different perspectives on how to do that.
S1: Best interest rates. Is that something that no.
S2: Interest rates are not something that that Congress has much control over it. Now , I will say interest rates have been responding to certain situations like inflation and like prices and things like that , that Congress does have control over. So it's sort of a second order control over that. They can't necessarily go tell the fed to lower interest rates. But Congress and , you know , the president can do things that make the fed more comfortable with lowering interest rates. That clearly haven't happened lately because they've been actually increasing them again. So they do have control over that as well. But it's , you know , a little bit more second order. I'd say.
S1: They can create the conditions for lower interest. Rates.
S2: Rates. They would hope to create those conditions. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. So how are the candidates thinking about the war in Iran and how it's impacting service members in their district?
S2: Yeah , Vaughn Wolpert was adamant that the war in Iran needs to end. She said that President Trump unilaterally went to war that its impacting service members and prices here in San Diego County. And she made the point that , uh , the administration has been cutting health care spending and cutting other spending here in America while paying for these other wars , you know , in foreign places. And so she wants to refocus that spending on people here in America. And on the other side , Desmond , I mean , he said that he hopes the war comes to an end soon as well. He you know , he did say that it's gone on too long and it's having an impact here. But he also said he thought it was important to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon , and that President Trump's actions are instrumental in doing that. So , you know , he has the perspective that it may have been necessary , but now it needs to come to an end to some solution. And so they both seem to think that it's time to end that war.
S1: What do Desmond and John Wolpert say about the Trump administration's current immigration policies? What like what what should law enforcement look like there?
S2: They both also have sort of differing opinions on that matter. Here's what Van Wolpert told us back in May.
S4: I actually led the vote at the city of San Diego to sue Ice. Take them to court to stop their raids in our communities. We also voted to prevent ice from coming on city property without a warrant. Stop these maskless raids. They're doing so in Congress. I will continue to fight back. I will not fund the Ice budget that Donald Trump wants to fight. They need to have actual immigration controls in this country that do not require tearing families apart and going into hospitals and churches.
S2: And this is what Desman told me when I interviewed him in September.
S3: I do think , you know , Ice needs more training , and my opponent actually wants to get rid of Ice or abolish Ice. I do not , I think more training and maybe more focused on on the what their outcomes are to be. You know , I'm all in favor of deporting people who have committed violent crimes against Americans. I mean , they should not be here. They should be deported. I'm not in favor of the major sweeps where we're , you know , just grabbing anybody who's who doesn't have documentation.
S2: So again , differing perspectives on immigration controls. And Jim Desmond has been adamant that he wants a secure border , that we have a secure border now because of the immigration enforcement that's been happening. But it is pretty apparent that even Republican Jim Desmond isn't just full support of Ice. He's aware that the things that immigration enforcement officers have done in our community and nationwide are not popular and are not something that he would stand by. Even on the Republican side. So I think that goes to show the perspective on immigration that even people like that think that it may have gone a little too far.
S1: And he did make the claim that Manie van Wilbert wants to abolish Ice. Is that true?
S2: She hasn't said abolish Ice to me. And so until I hear her say that I'm not going to put words in her mouth , I'm that's up to Jim Desmond to try and do. Okay.
S1: Okay. So that may or may not be true. The district 48 race is getting a lot of attention. How would you describe the tone of each campaign? What are candidates saying about each other?
S2: You know , just based on the ads that I've been seeing and I don't even live in the district and I've seen some ads. Both campaigns have called the other corrupt in some way or another. So Desmond said Vaughn Wilbert was fine by the city's ethics commission for failing to disclose campaign donors. That is true. Vaughn Wilbert , on the other hand , said Desmond accepted donations from someone who later benefited from a county vote. That's also true. But , you know , neither of these are really high profile corruption scandals , like especially compared to some of the stuff that we've seen in and around Washington. But it is notable that they've both gone on the offensive about these issues. And so we'll see how well either of those lines land with the voters.
S1: And this race has seen more than $6 million in outside , outside spending , mostly for Vaughn Wilbert. Where is that money coming from? Yes.
S2: Yes. So Vaughn Wilbert has got a lot of outside spending on her behalf. And Cash Matters just recently reported on this. She's benefited from $4 million in spending from the Democrats House majority PAC , but she's also got $2 million in outside spending from a group called Democratic Majority for Israel. And that group is , like it says , hoping for a Democratic Party majority that is friendly to Israel or supports Israel in the Middle East. And this is interesting because that group also spent money in the primary helping defeat Omar Camp and Aja. The other , another Democratic candidate who was running for the 48th in the primary. They paid for attack ads , and they actually told me directly after the election that they helped her win with those. Whether or not that's true , again , you know , up to interpretation. But Von Willard's campaign says she supports a two state solution that ensures lasting peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. She hasn't come out and , you know , strong support of Israel or anything like that. So it's just interesting that they're spending on that campaign. But , you know , it doesn't indicate anything about von Wolpert , necessarily.
S1: Jim Desmond supports President Donald Trump and has his endorsement , but he spoke out against Trump's comments earlier this month that Iran could , quote , take out San Diego and Los Angeles. Is he trying to distance himself from Trump?
S2: Yeah , maybe. I also think that's just a genuine response to , like , a pretty wild statement. Um , and so my colleague Andrew Dyer would want me to point out that the president was allegedly making the point that if he hadn't gone to war with Iran and if he hadn't crippled their military capability , then maybe they could have done something like takeout LA and San Diego. That is what allegedly the white House says Trump was trying to impart.
S1: Is that some interpretation , though?
S2: The fact that.
S1: Is that what he said? Right.
S2: Right. And the fact that it's very difficult to parse what the president says sometimes , the fact that you just hear words that he says and then take them at face value , you know , it's not something that even Jim Desmond could support. And he felt the need to make a statement to make it clear that , no , that's even that is not something that he could support at all. So he's trying to distance himself , at least from the worst parts of it. Right.
S1: Right. Well.
S2: Well.
S1: Marnie von Wilbert has closely aligned herself with Kamala Harris at this point in the campaign. Could that help her or hurt her?
S2: You know , it's I'm not sure that would hurt her necessarily. There's not as much animosity , I would say towards like , establishment type Democrats as maybe there was two years ago , or maybe there was some time in the past. And Von Willard's campaign certainly doesn't think so. She's had Senator Adam Schiff join her on the campaign trail , Kamala Harris as well. And they actually just announced that they're having House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries join her. They're going to tour a hospital. So they're certainly leaning into having some of these establishment Democrats help her on the campaign trail. They think that's going to be a boost. And the National Party , clearly , these leaders think that this race is important and they're taking the time out of their , you know , busy schedules to fly out to San Diego and try and help her on this race. So they're certainly prioritizing this election as well from that perspective.
S1: Well , what do the latest polls say about where the race stands right now? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Real quick , I'd like to point out that polls are done by mostly calling landlines so they can be somewhat unreliable in today's day and age. But that being said , recent polls have shown Marni von Wolpert with a lead over Jim Desmond , and that lead has actually been growing. There was a poll conducted in late August that showed her with a three point lead , and then there was another poll of 500 likely voters that was just conducted in early October , shows her with a nine point lead over Supervisor Desmond. So with a grain of salt , the polls do show that von Wilbert has a lead and it's been growing. And so we'll see how that attracts into the election.
S1: Landlines , huh?
S2: Yeah , that's that's usually how polling is done , unless they've come up with some new ways to reach people on different platforms. And so that means that there's only a certain segment of the population that even could be reached by those pollsters. So they might have to update the polling methods. Yes.
S1: Yes. Well , thank you so much for that information. I've been speaking with KPBS Public Matters reporter Jake Gatta , and you can find more information about the key races and measures on your ballot at our Voter Hub , just ahead on kpbs.org. I should also note that while Jim Desmond has not responded to any of our interview requests , Marni Von Will did sit down in our studio for an interview during her primary run , and you can find that conversation on our website as well. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
