S1: Hey there , San Diego , it's time for KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. On today's show , California's primary election is almost here. We get an update on the crowded race for California governor. After the latest debate this week. Then , from tariff uncertainty to the war in Iran , many of California's small businesses are struggling to stay afloat. And a conversation with South County reporters about how immigration enforcement is hurting the border economy. That's all ahead on KPBS roundtable. Ready or not , it's just about time to vote for California's next governor. At least in the first go round , primary ballots will be on their way to voters starting Monday. This year's race so far has been surprising. Pretty crowded , and for some voters , at least a little confusing. And if you haven't settled on a candidate yet , you're not alone. A recent poll from CBS news found 26% of registered voters remain undecided. I'm joined now by Anita Chhabria. She's a columnist with the Los Angeles Times. Anita , welcome to roundtable.
S2: Thanks for having me on.
S1: Great to have you.
S2: I think most of us are still undecided or not really engaged yet , and we haven't seen that breakout front runner. That sort of feels like this is it.
S1: So let's , you know , let's talk about some of these , some of the leading candidates here. It's a pretty , pretty crowded field on the ballot.
S2: And so I think he's obviously on the top of everyone's mind. But I would not rule Tom Steyer out. He is right there. He's a , you know , still at the top of the polls as well. Katie Porter has slipped a little bit , but she's still in the race. And so I think we're we're really looking at those top three. But in these strange days you just really can never say never. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And I want to talk a little bit more about some of those candidates you mentioned there. But let's talk you know let's go to the Republican side real quick. We have two there Chad Bianco Steve Hilton , you know. How are they faring against Democrats. What's the what's the update there.
S2: Hilton obviously is doing really well at the moment. He's in some of the more recent polls coming in number two. Uh , right behind Becerra. You're seeing Bianco slide off a little bit. I find them a little interesting because there was a point , maybe a month ago when there wasn't a lot of daylight between them. You know , it was really , um. Seemed like they both were very similar , but , uh , Hilton obviously got President Trump's endorsement. That sort of made him the the anointed one , the front runner. Bianco was really dug in with more of of the angry , um , MAGA base. And it's really going for that conspiracy , angry persona. And so you are seeing a little bit of a split there between how they're they're moving forward in this race.
S1: I want to move now to , to the debate this week. Uh , you know , right off the , you know , right off the gate there , you said you kind of mentioned how messy this race has been. Um , and that debate got a little messy in a way , too. Let's have a listen.
S3: Let's go to this. Because that was not the question. The question was Are you going to do ? Please , Mr. Duncan. You had your time , Mr.. Mr. Mehan. That wasn't the question. I'd love to just answer the question.
S1: So that , you know , that just gives , you know , a brief moment.
S2: You saw each of them trying to be forceful. I think coming out of the first debate where it was a little bit sleepy. There was that pressure to be the one who stood out in the debate. I think , uh , again , you saw Becerra come out punching much more , trying to be much more forceful. He he landed as you played there a couple , you know , jabs here and there and other candidates. But I think the takeaway again was that there wasn't one moment or one candidate who just blew everyone else away , who you can say that person is the winner. So I think it's very much still in terms of public perception , uh , you know , anybody's race in a sense.
S1: And another candidate , I think you say , stood out a little bit in that debate was Democrat Tony Thurmond. He's currently the California state superintendent of Public Instruction. Tell us more about him.
S2: I thought. He's polling he , as you said , he's the state superintendent of schools. He has not gotten a lot of airtime. He is polling in the low single digits. I mean , virtually almost has no chance in this race. Although I hate to say never because we've seen so many crazy things in this race , but really acquitted himself well on that stage , came across as very human , encouraged us to vote for him for his lived experience , and came out with some clear policies. It sort of a shame that he hasn't didn't get more traction earlier on , because I think even just having him as more of a contender in the race might have raised more issues. But as one of my colleagues , Gustavo pointed out , we we do not do great with black candidates for office of of governor. And I don't think you can unfortunately rule out that it has been hard for him to gain traction.
S1: But I imagine that's kind of one of the aims of these debates. Right. Is , is that a candidate maybe that doesn't have the traction , doesn't have the the fundraising or the spending yet can get a little bit more attention. But you say it may be a little too late for Thurmond in this case.
S2: You know , again , like , this has been such a crazy race. I don't , you know , tomorrow he'll be number one. If I say right now he has no chance. But , uh , in general , I mean , ballots are going out , right ? Like , they're hitting mailboxes in the next couple of days. Uh , the election is June 2nd. We're really running out of time. He doesn't have a lot of money. He doesn't have the money to do the advertising. He doesn't have the endorsements to do the door knocking. It would really be incredibly surprising for him to make any kind of run at this point.
S1: So , you know , you've mentioned Javier Becerra , former US Health and Human Services secretary under President Biden , as well as billionaire Tom Steyer and former Congress member Katie Porter. But tell us about a couple of the other Democrats that were on stage this week Matt Mahan , Antonio Villaraigosa.
S2: Antonio Villaraigosa , you know , one of the most famous politicians in in California , I would say everyone knows the name from Los Angeles. He just has not had momentum behind him. Some folks say that's an age thing. Some folks say that's a platform thing. But like Tony Thurmond , he's really polling low. He really is not a contender this time around , at least even though he has that name recognition. Matt Mahan is the mayor of San Jose , comes with literally billions , not billions , millions of dollars in tech backing , very well supported by Silicon Valley , but is just the mayor of San Jose , which , you know , I'm sure you're San Diego listeners. You know , that doesn't bring a lot of recognition to them or to most people in the state. And he's just been despite spending more than 30 million or around 30 million , he has stuck at 6% in the polls. I do not see that changing. I just don't think he has the the appeal or a strong enough platform to break through. But we shall see.
S1: And so when we've run through many of the candidates here , but I want to bring it back to voters.
S2: I mean , we are all feeling it when we go to fill up our cars or , you know , travel on an airplane or anything like that right now and , and housing right behind that. But I do think Californians care about more than just affordability. Obviously , affordability matters greatly , but I do think that this is a state , historically that votes on more than just affordability. I think people are concerned about civil rights. I think people are concerned about the federal government. They want a governor who's going to focus on the state and make the state strong , but they also want to know that they have a governor strong enough to stand up for whatever the federal government comes at California with. So I think that there's a lot of different angles to this race.
S1: And you you wrote that you have a list of questions for many of the candidates to answer.
S2: So the Sarah does have this , you know , some of his , uh , close political allies , his staff have been charged with federal , uh , federal money crimes based on moving some campaign funds around. I do think he has to answer very clearly for how he did not know that it's money coming out of his office , and now we're asking him to run the state. And so I think it's a fair question. I think , you know , for Matt Mehan , he is taking a lot of money from the technology industry and AI interests at a time when those interests are battling the state and battling the federal government to avoid regulation. You know , how is he going to handle regulation with that ? You have Katie Porter , who is a strong candidate , but is is in that number three spot. And , you know , does she have thoughts of dropping out and or putting her weight behind someone else ? And where does that break happen for her ? So I think they they all have things that we should be asking.
S1: You know , I want to focus on on your role in all this just briefly in the some the short time we have left your columnist with the Los Angeles Times and , you know , that is different from being a politics reporter , for example , you know , how do you explain that difference to people on the street.
S2: I always try to bring the why to my stories or to my columns. So a reporter will tell you , you know , what's happening and how it's happening and when it's happening and all that. I really try to take that extra step until you why it's happening. What's really at play here ? What are the bigger issues ? Why does it matter ? And so I always hope to bring just that , sort of that extra layer. That is my my opinion on why it's all happening but always backed up by reporting and fact. But just to give that broader context and that broader understanding of the issues and the people.
S1: So , you know , there was a debate this week and there's another one next week , I think it's Tuesday , May 5th on CNN. Another chance for voters to learn more about the candidates.
S2: Um , uh , Alex Michaelson is hosting and Caitlin Collins , um , I think there'll be two really great moderators. And obviously that's a very CNN is is going to be a bigger platform. I will be watching for those more pointed questions. This is really the candidate's last chance to to get in front of voters and maybe their best chance. So I think you're going to see them all coming out really determined to have that breakout moment that then will be played on social media and ads and things like that. And you'll see the other candidates really wanting to to trip up their their main competition. So I expect quite a bit of sparring and maybe a little bit more order.
S1: Oh , good. Well yeah , we hope we get more , more order in the next one for sure. Um , so again , reminder of the primary elections coming up June 2nd and the top two candidates will be moving forward. I've been speaking with Anita Chabrier. She's a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. And Anita , thanks so much.
S2: Thank you for having me on.
S1: Coming up , how California's small businesses are navigating economic uncertainty , from Trump tariffs to the war in Iran. You're listening to KPBS roundtable. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. California's high cost of living is not just a burden on the state's residents. It's also creating challenges for many small businesses across the state , including here in San Diego. They're facing headwinds from on again , off again tariffs to rising shipping costs as a result of the war in Iran. And as many small business owners wondering how much longer they can stay afloat. I'm joined now by Levy Suma Kissi. She is the economy reporter with Cal Matters. Levi , welcome back to roundtable.
S4: Thank you.
S1:
S5: I've talked with farmers , I've talked with winery owners , I've talked with people at the ports from their executives to the longshoremen. Um , and I have also talked with some small business owners. And , um , in February , the Supreme Court ruled that the authority that the Trump administration was using to impose most of the wide ranging tariffs , um , was , um , you know , not okay. And so I wanted to know how small business owners were taking that news. Um , whether they expected to get tariff refunds , etc.. And I talked with them at the time about the effects of tariffs on their businesses so far. And then , as we know , um , uh , on February 28th , the , um , you know , the US started this war in Iran. And so those are additional challenges for these small businesses. And so , you know , they were gracious enough to share what they're going through , what they're dealing with with me.
S1:
S5: Have.
S4: Have.
S5: Had , um , you know , contact with different businesses. Um , I happened to be connected with one small business owner who happened to be , um , a female business owner , and she actually leads , um , a coalition of other women who are small business owners. And so she connected me with the other people I spoke with for this story.
S1: And you spoke with one small business owner here in San Diego named Nicole MacDonald. Her company is called sandbag. I think it's called. So tell us more about her and what her experience has been. Yeah.
S4: Yeah.
S5: Um , so she told me that , um , since the Trump administration's , um , first term , um , when , um , you know , he imposed tariffs during his first term as well. Um , she has had to make adjustments to her business. Um , she used to , um , source her products , her goods , the bags that she sells , um , from both India and China. Um , uh , as we know , the Trump administration has gone , um , back and forth with China , especially , um , as , uh , during these trade negotiations. Um , and so she switched to only doing , uh , you know , like manufacturing in India. Um , so that's one big thing. Um , you know , she has said that since Trump's second term , you know , when he imposed the sort of the wide ranging tariffs on on most countries in the world , um , you know , her sales have , um , suffered because her costs have gone up. And so her costs going up means or meant that , um , she had to basically , um , reduce , um , the number of orders that she would make. She told me that she , um , last holiday season , she wasn't , you know , uh , because she had to spend , uh , what she told me was tens of thousands of dollars on increased costs from tariffs that she wasn't really able to stock up for holidays , for the holidays. Um , she has had to go from a staff of 11 to now. Three. Um , you know , those are those are some of the big effects on her business. Um , from the tariffs and then now from the Iran war , because , um , as we know , energy costs. Fuel costs have risen because of the Iran war. Um , they are rising for everybody , basically. Um , and for a small business like hers , what that means is increased shipping costs. Um , the , you know , the shippers that she uses have instituted surcharges because , um , of increased fuel costs.
S1: So , yeah , a lot there in terms from the impact from the tariffs. But moving , you know , aside just from the tariffs , but also at the federal level , I know this is something you've been covering but changes with the Small Business Administration. SBA , as we often hear it is also having an impact on small businesses in California. Can you tell us what's happening there ? Sure.
S5: Um. Recently , I also wrote a story about changes at the SBA and the loans that they have provided to , um , basically immigrant entrepreneurs. Um , for a long time. Um , so starting in March and April , um , the changes at the SBA mean that green card holders , um , those who hold green cards , who are here as permanent legal citizens , will no longer be eligible for SBA loans. Um , and even any businesses that are partly owned by green card holders are no longer eligible for SBA loans. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. So something to to track there. I mean , I guess , you know , aside , there's a lot of different factors here , so it's hard to kind of just wrap it into , you know , ta ta. One thing here , but what types of solutions do small business owners want to see. To help their businesses get through these times.
S5: Yeah , that's a really good question. Um , so for these , you know , small business owners who , you know , are being hit by increased costs from seemingly just everywhere. Right. Um , I want to give an example. You know , I want to go back to Nicole MacDonald. Um , her main manufacturer in India recently told her that his costs for raw goods have risen about 25%. What that means for Nicole McDonald in San Diego is that , um , that manufacturer that she relies on will be raising her prices. And so what that means for her is that she's probably going to have to pass along some of those costs to her customers , and that's scary for someone like Nicole and for the other women I spoke with for this story , because they are selling things like , like I said , bags for women or clothing for women. Right. Um , those are discretionary items. And , uh , what Nicole and the other people I spoke with told me is that because costs are so high across the board , including for fuel. Um , they're seeing their customers cut back on spending on things like bags and clothing. Um , because they're having to spend more on food and gas , like to get to work. Um , and so , you know , for someone like Nicole and the other women , um , it means they are struggling with how to deal with their increased costs and really not wanting to raise prices at all or buy much because they don't want to lose those customers. So , you know , it's it's um , it's it's it's something that they are dealing with. And they're hoping that California in some way could help small businesses. Um , you know , California does have , um , some grants and loans available. But going back to the SBA now , um , you know , SBA is federal funding , um , SBA loans. Um , you know , I mean , there's yeah , it's a matter it's a matter of finding room in the California budget to sort of try to make up for the loss. Possible loss of SBA loan access. But also , you know , other other business folks have told me they're also hoping that philanthropy , um , will step up and see how important it is for small businesses to survive in California.
S1: Well , I think your story and other reporting , it's really interesting just to see how much you know , how the economy just really wraps itself into all these different aspects of our lives , as you illustrate with these small business owners. So I want to thank you for that. I've been speaking with Levi Suma Kissi. She's the economy reporter at Cal Matters , and we're going to have a link to more of her reporting on our show notes and website at pbs.org. Levi , thanks so much.
S5: Thanks , Andrew.
S1: Up next , how immigration enforcement is hurting South County's border economy. Stay tuned. KPBS roundtable is back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. San Diego's South County is home to one of the busiest borders in the world. The region's proximity to the US-Mexico border plays a central role in its economy and culture. And though South County is not faced large scale immigration blitzes like we've seen in other cities like Los Angeles or Minneapolis. Immigration enforcement is having real impacts there. And here with more is Jim Hinch. He is Voice of San Diego's South County reporter. And also Corey Suzuki is joining us. He covers South County here at KPBS. I want to welcome you both back to roundtable. Hello.
S6: Hi , Andrew. Thanks for having us.
S1: Well , welcome. Thanks for making time for us. So I just want to set the scene here. Jim , I'll start with you. Can you talk a little bit about what makes San Diego South County so unique ? particularly when we look at it through this lens of immigration.
S7: Well , the San Ysidro border crossing is actually the world's busiest international border crossing. And I think for years , for four generations , that cross border connection has been a defining feature of the region. I think almost every single person who lives in South County has some connection through friends , family or themselves with Mexico or other points south of the border. So if there was any part of the United States , it was going to be profoundly affected by an immigration crackdown. It would be south San Diego County.
S1: And you kind of covered that this week. And we'll delve more into that. But Corey , same question to you. Like how do you see South County in this conversation around immigration ? You know , that you've been involved in covering some of the immigration enforcement we've seen in other parts of of the region as well. Yeah.
S6: Yeah. And I think really to Jim's point , I mean , South Bay , I really feel like is is at the heart of San Diego , and Tijuana is kind of binational relationship. I mean , you have so much of life in the this , this cross-border region that just flows back and forth across this , this national border that I feel like for people who don't live near it , um , it can often seem very , um , impermeable , very impenetrable , just kind of like this thing that , um , that , that sits there and that blocks anyone from moving back and forth. But it's really not the case when you live in San Diego and Tijuana and closer to the region in many cases , especially right , right next to that border , there are just so many people who , um , for for them , work and life and family are just kind of , um , on both sides of the , the border. And , um , you see a lot of people just moving back and forth.
S1: Yeah , just so many different ways that these , these ties are there. Um , Jim , you wrote about immigration enforcement in the South Bay since Trump took office. And I am wondering if you can take us back kind of to early 2025 , when we really started seeing this ramp up in immigration enforcement.
S7: And actually conversations I was happening , especially with Democratic politicians at that time , the debate was all about maybe we should just stop talking about immigration entirely , because we turned off voters with social issues in 2024 , and maybe we should shift over to talking just about affordability issues. The immigrant community had braced itself , waiting for a massive wave of crackdown , figuring because there's such a high density of immigrants and undocumented immigrants in South County , this would be a natural place for the Trump administration to crack down. And then it didn't happen. It mostly materialized in cities like Los Angeles , Chicago , uh , Minneapolis. And so I think there was kind of a sense of like a holding of the breath. But by the second half of the year , at least according to the immigration arrest data that I looked at , the pace of arrest did begin to ramp up. And what the the the form that took was very interesting. It was never the big high profile raids that drew television coverage and so forth. It was just kind of a random , constant , unpredictable , uh , series of targeted enforcement actions that began to , I feel like , create an ambient sense that everybody needed to look over their shoulders because they never quite knew what was going to happen next. So you had the phenomenon of people who maybe immigrated from Mexico decades ago , who started carrying their passports with them , and kind of an overall feeling of fear that then begin to seep out into the rest of the culture , affect people's daily behavior , and finally began turning up in , um , you know , statistics for businesses , public transportation , uh , health care , etc..
S1: And , you know , Corey , in a border community like South County , immigration enforcement is not exactly new. It's not uncommon to see , I don't know , the sight of federal immigration officers like Border Patrol , for example.
S6: I think , um , and it's not something I've covered directly , but I think that there is a little bit of that there. I mean , especially where I've seen that is , um , this is kind of , uh , you know , aside to our discussion. But , um , I've especially heard that from a lot of people who live in Imperial County , which , you know , like just another area. You cover another area.
S1: Another border. Yeah.
S6: Yeah. And another border community. Um , where very similar. You have , um , kind of a smaller rural area on the US side of the border. And then Mexicali , just this massive metropolis , um , one of the largest cities in Baja California , on the other side of the border and in Imperial County. Like you said , Border Patrol is a major employer. It's , um , a consistent , um , presence in just cities and kind of out and around , um , when you're walking through the valley. So I think , um , there are a lot of people who are maybe a little more used to , um , seeing these , these officers , these immigration enforcement agencies , um , around or we're more used to them before last year.
S7: Well , and if I could just go ahead and say one thing that I heard , one thing that shocked and surprised people and added to the anxiety was , they felt like they had a good understanding of how immigration enforcement works. Like Cory was just saying , people , people in South County are very used to the presence of Border Patrol on the Chula Vista Elementary School District. One of the trustees works for Border Patrol , but she's a Democrat. And so there's kind of a mixing there. What I heard from people was all of a sudden , immigration enforcement started behaving differently from anything that they had ever seen before , and that is what caught people off guard. I think everybody kind of had developed a working relationship with it. If you did certain things , you were probably okay , and people had a sense of kind of what would cause you to step out of line and maybe get picked up. And all of a sudden all those rules changed and enforcement agents just started showing up outside of schools and grabbing people. Enforcement agents just started pulling up on the street and going after people at court hearings , and it was the unexpectedness and novelty of all of that that caught people off guard and added to the sense of fear and anxiety.
S1: And Corey , this brings us to a story you covered this week. Um , South County's largest city , Chula Vista , held a ceremonial signing for the city's Safe Neighbor Ordinance. And talk to us more about that and what's , you know , what's to come of it. Yeah.
S6: Yeah. And I think that this ordinance that Chula Vista is moving forward with that , the Chula Vista City Council has passed really stems from what Jim is describing. I mean , this was in large part a reaction by the city council to some really high profile immigration actions last year. Specifically , there was a case where federal agents arrested a parent outside Camarena Elementary School in East Chula Vista. This was a very public arrest. There were people dropping off their their kids at the school. There was a lot of traffic on the street. Bystanders took video that we obtained and , um , the , the the person , the woman who , um , agents detained had children in the backseat at the time. Um , and so I think that that action was one that was really , really carried a lot of weight for some members of the city council. And then , uh , the second , um , the enforcement action that the members of the Chula Vista City Council had pointed to in , um , talking about why they decided to move forward with this ordinance was the large raid in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego that also happened last year , and this was when federal agents raided an Italian restaurant. Um , they deployed flash bangs to clear protesters. And again , another instance of really , um , federal immigration enforcement behaving in a way that I think a lot of people saw as very , very publicly.
S1: I think it was like a Friday afternoon , early Friday evening.
S6: Yeah , exactly. And so , I mean , this , uh , this ordinance that Chula Vista is now , um , has now passed. Um , what it does is a couple different things. It sort of follows some of the same models as other cities in the county , including the city of San Diego. Um , and that includes sort of a few different provisions , including kind of reinforcing some , uh , aspects of state law , um , kind of making it clear that federal agents can't enter certain non-public areas of city property without without a judicial warrant or a court order. Um , but one thing that really stands out has stood out to me about this ordinance is that it includes a specific reporting requirement. And I think this is one of the biggest things that comes out of it is that it , um , has this focus on increasing transparency when it comes to how police in Chula Vista are interacting with federal immigration agents. And so I think that's that's probably the the most significant part of this ordinance. And that's that's what the city council , some city council members were , were there to talk about this week.
S1: And Jim , you mentioned this earlier , just the way that all of these actions kind of seep into life , culture and the economy. So talk about that economic piece and how you've seen the impact here in South Bay , because you mentioned some of the data you're starting to to learn more about.
S7: Yeah , I think one of the impacts of this change in immigration enforcement has just been a subtle altering of people's daily lives and habits , and that's everything from whether they cross the border to go shopping , whether they cross the border to work , whether they show up to work , whether they send their kids to school. And so I think and I looked around for statistical ways to measure that and did begin to find some. So I noticed that traffic on the Blue Line trolley , which serves the international border , that's that's the long trolley line that goes from the border up to UC San Diego. Traffic on the blue line was down in the first quarter of this year compared to last year , and that was after it had been rising. All of a sudden it began to dip. And that was unexpected. And actually , the CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation System attributed that in part to immigration enforcement. The city of Chula Vista found that some of its hotels were netting less hotel tax revenue than they had forecast. They called the hotel owners , and I think one of them that they called was the owner of this new Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center that opened in the city last year. And one of the factors that the hotel owners blamed was an unexpected decline in bookings from guests originating in Mexico , so who knew ? It turned out that one of the things propping up hotel businesses in South County. Were , you know , middle , upper middle class guests taking vacations from Mexico , and they're not crossing the border as much. I found that low cost health clinics like Family Health Centers of San Diego or San Ysidro Health , which are these networks of like free and low cost health clinics , suddenly saw a decline in uninsured patients. They saw decline in patients who identified as migratory or agricultural farmworkers. And as I began just to look at each sector of the economy and talk to business experts like the head of the South County Economic Development Council , somebody from Neighborhood National Bank , which is a local lender in the area. They all said the same thing. They said business. What we're hearing from businesses is that business is down , foot traffic is down , it's harder to hire people. It's harder to get employees to show up to work. So it's all these subtle knock on effects that take a while to turn up in the data. But they indicate that there are changes that are happening out there in people's daily lives.
S1: And , Corey , another aspect that we're starting to see this in is in school attendance.
S6: And it was from a trustee in the Chula Vista Elementary School District , Francisco Tamayo , who is I should say , is also currently running a candidate for mayor in Chula Vista. And Tamayo describes this trend that is really concerning. He says that districts across the South Bay saw attendance fall last year following some of these high profile , immigration related arrests , and he Attributes this fall to these immigration enforcement actions. And people , families , kids being afraid of being swept up in one of these , one of these actions. And according to Tamayo , districts both in Chula Vista and elsewhere in the South Bay have reported seeing similar trends that they would also attribute to to immigration enforcement.
S1: So , Corey , you mentioned Francisco Tamayo. There he is running for , you know , for Chula Vista mayor , and he's running against the current mayor , John McCann , who wasn't , you know , in attendance at that that signing ceremony you covered this week. Jim , I'm wondering how this topic of immigration is playing into that Chula Vista mayor race right now.
S7: I think that is an interesting and open question , and it is the question that I'm going to be looking at most closely as that race unfolds. If we had just wound the clock back a few months , three months , four months. Um. John McCann appeared to be cruising toward re-election unopposed. Up until about a week or so before the filing deadline , he did not have a single opponent to be reelected mayor. He is. I think that's because he was broadly viewed as even though he is a Republican in a city that is majority Democrat , he was broadly viewed as a mostly nonpartisan figure , um , mostly popular and liked. He turns up seemingly at every public event in the city. But there is one issue that he has studiously avoided addressing , and that is the issue of immigration. And I have a feeling that's because it puts him in a really difficult position. His Republican base , I think , largely is in favor of the immigrant , the , you know , the immigration enforcement actions that the Trump administration has taken. Whereas I would think that a broad majority of Chula Vista's Latino residents and Democrats are very much opposed. John McCann has used as a way to avoid talking about it the fact that he is a reservist in the U.S. Navy and says , well , U.S. military code prohibits me from commenting on such matters or anything that might contravene federal law. There is debate about whether or not the military Code of Justice actually does prohibit him from commenting on such matters. But be that as it may , I feel like that technicality is actually a distraction from the real question , which is there's certainly nothing in the military code of justice that would prevent him from standing up and saying something like , I just want our immigrant community to know that you are a backbone of our city and that we support you and we embrace the full diversity of Chula Vista and immigrants are part of what makes this city great , and we're going to do everything we can to ensure that you feel safe in your homes and in your jobs. But he hasn't done that. And like I said , I think that's because he feels a little bit caught between the different constituencies that he represents. His opponent , Francisco Tamayo , has explicitly said he plans to try to make the mayor's reluctance to comment on immigration matters a central issue in the race. Francisco Tamayo definitely will be bringing that up , and Tamayo told me that the principal reason he entered the race was because he felt a that the mayor was not standing up for the city's immigrant population , and b that no other Democrat seemed to be stepping up to oppose the mayor. So I think that whether the mayor is , you know , would welcome this development or not. Immigration probably is going to be a central issue in the race. And I think in that sense , the race poses this very , very interesting question of for South Bay voters , for San Diego County voters , just how important is immigration as an issue ? Because if you took immigration off the table , I think that that mostly things are going pretty well in Chula Vista. This is not a situation where the city is in a mess , like , say , the city of San Diego , with all of its budget problems and voters are feeling restless and like they want to kind of kick the powers that be out of office , I don't really get the sense that there's that sentiment in Chula Vista. Even a lot of Democrats privately tell me , I actually really like John McCain. Please don't tell anyone I told you this. I'm probably going to vote for him. And there's a sense that there's a certain level of low level corruption in the Democratic Party in the South Bay , which gives people some squeamishness about just unqualified , fully embracing a Democratic Candidate. So there are some complex forces in play there. But kind of the shorthand that I use is if voters vote with their hearts on the immigration issue , Francisco Tamayo has a chance to unseat McCann if voters vote with their heads sort of looking at the situation of the city and deciding that they mostly like the direction things are going. Then probably they might stick with McCann. And so I think it will be an interesting Rorschach test of how Trump's immigration policies are going to affect local politics , both here in San Diego and I think statewide in California.
S1: Really interesting , a lot to follow there. And ballots are supposed to be on their way starting next week. The primary election is just about a month away. So a lot to follow up , and we hope to hear more about your reporting soon on the roundtable. I've been speaking with Corey Suzuki , who covers San Diego South County here at KPBS , along with Jim Hinch. He's Voice of San Diego's South County reporter thanks so much for you. To you both for joining us today.
S7: Thank you.
S6: Thanks , Andrew.
S1: And that'll do it for this week's roundtable. Thanks so much for listening. And to all my guests today. If you have any thoughts on today's show , you can always email us at roundtable at npr.org. You can also leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtables technical producer is Brandon Truffaut. The show was produced by Ashley Rush. Brooke Rooth is roundtable senior producer. I'm your host , Andrew Bracken. Have a great weekend.
