49th still too close to call

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Thursday, November 10th.

Who will represent the 49th District in the house is still up in the air.

More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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Election results continue to roll in.

The next release of unofficial results will be posted by 5 p-m today.

The registrar of voters said it could be one to two weeks before we have results in some of the tighter races.

Final results will be in by December 8th.

You can find the latest numbers at KPBS-DOT-ORG-SLASH-VOTER-HUB.

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Governor Gavin Newsom opposed Proposition 30, but the Democratic Party supported it.

And now the prop has failed at the ballot box.

The measure would have increased taxes for people who earn over 2-million- a year.

It would have used that money to pay for programs that would reduce air pollution and prevent wildfires.

Opponents said the state shouldn’t pass budget policy at the ballot box, and should avoid tax increases during a period of record-high inflation.

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Patricia Guerrero will be the next Chief Justice for the state Supreme court.

After being nominated by the governor, she had to be confirmed by voters and got 70-percent of the vote.

She’ll be the first Latina Chief Justice for the state.

She’s from the Imperial Valley and served four years as a local court judge in San Diego County before she was appointed to the state appeals court.

She is currently an associate justice on the state’s supreme court.

She will take over as chief justice in January.

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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

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Election day may be over, but a number of key races across the country are still too close to call…

California's 49th district is one of them.

Incumbent Democrat Mike Levin is leading with 51-percent of the vote against Republican challenger Brian Marriott, who has 49-percent.

Thad Kousser is a political science professor and co-director of the Yankelovich Center at UC-SD.

He shared his election takeaways with KPBS Midday Edition co-host, Jade Hindmon.

Here’s their conversation

That was UCSD political science professor Thad Kousser speaking with KPBS’s Jade Hindmon.

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Voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 28.

KPBS Education reporter M.G. Perez tells us… the state will now lead the nation in funding for the arts in every classroom.

The approval of Prop 28…guarantees as much as a-billion dollars from the state budget every school year for arts education…without raising taxes. Starting next fall, that means 6-million students will have access to music, theater, dance or painting. Russ Sperling is Director of Visual and Performing Arts in San Diego Unified. He is a veteran arts administrator who estimates his district will get an additional 15-million dollars every year… “from a district office or a state perspective …we’re not saying ‘you have to offer this class’...we’re saying to the principals and the communities… ‘what arts do you want to see at your school?’ In other words, the new state funding for all the arts and music programs will be tailored to the specific needs of a school…and that money can not be spent on anything else. MGP KPBS News

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UNDERSHERIFF KELLY MARTINEZ IS LEADING FORMER PROSECUTOR JOHN HEMMERLING to be the COUNTY’s next SHERIFF.

Here’s KPBS REPORTER KITTY ALVARADO.

San Diego County Undersheriff Kelly Martinez was feeling good the morning after  the election.  … she was  leading former county prosecutor John Hemmerling by a 14 point margin  in the race for Sheriff.  we still need to wait for the final results  but it was really exciting to have this much of a lead you know we worked so hard and we had so much terrific support And one of her biggest supporters, is San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria …he celebrated Martinez on social media for being the first female Sheriff in San Diego County history … even though vote count is not complete She’s already accomplished many firsts in the department’s 172 year history, including being the first female undersheriff.  It’s exciting, and it’s exciting for all of the women who have come before me and all of the women who will come after me And the advice she would give her 21-year-old self just starting out in the academy … is the same she would give all young women Just  believe in yourself you’re going to do great  On Thursday the County Registrar  of Voters will provide another official update of the vote count Kitty Alvarado. KPBS News

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A measure that would let the county tax cannabis businesses in its unincorporated areas is still ahead in the vote count…

57-percent of residents so far are supporting Measure A.

Outco in El Cajon’s unincorporated area would pay this tax if the measure passes..

C-E-O Lincoln Fish says he doesn't think it will have a huge impact.

He says it's the state excise tax that hurts.

“It’s sort of the collective value of all the taxes together that hurt us and again most of us in the industry don't really mind as long as it’s a level playing field and they use some of those funds to shut down some of those operations that shouldn't be in business and there’s just not enough of that going on.”

Fish says no one wants more taxes, but he’s hopeful that supervisors will stick to their word and do more to curtail illegal operators.

Measure A could generate anywhere from 2 to 5 million per year.

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Measure B … a vote on the future of trash collection in the city of San Diego … is a tight race, nearly neck and neck.

KPBS reporter Jacob Aere says the ballot measure would update the People’s Ordinance.

Single-family homeowners in the city of San Diego haven’t paid additional fees for trash pickup in over 100 years thanks to a law called the People’s Ordinance. Meanwhile multi-family complexes and businesses have to hire private waste haulers. Right now homeowner service is paid out of the city’s general fund and City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera says if Measure B doesn't pass, other public services may suffer. “It'll just mean that the job of the city will be more difficult when it comes to delivering the basic services, which means it'll be even more challenging to do anything beyond that.” With over 210,000 votes now counted for the measure, “No on Measure B” is leading by just less than one percentage point. If that result holds, that means the current system would stay in place. Jacob Aere, KPBS News.

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Another tight race is Measure C, which would carve out the Midway District from the city of San Diego's 30-foot coastal height limit.

Early results suggest the outcome won't be clear for several days. That's in contrast to 2020, when voters overwhelmingly approved an identical ballot measure before that one got tied up in a lawsuit. Dike Anyiwo chairs the Midway planning group.

"I think that the city is under immense pressure to do everything in its power to address the housing and housing affordability crisis that we have. So I don't think the conversation around redeveloping the arena or redeveloping in Midway is ever going away."

If Measure C fails, the city does have a backup plan. It's appealing the lawsuit that blocked the 2020 ballot measure. That legal process could take years before getting resolved.

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For some voters in our area's most diverse neighborhoods, language was a barrier to voting.

inewsource reporter Sofía Mejías-Pascoe explains.

MEJIAS-PASCOE: Tens of thousands of San Diegans prefer to vote in a language other than English. But that isn’t always easy here. The Registrar of Voters often falls short of its own goals for hiring bilingual poll workers. Having in- language assistance makes a big difference for voters, said Emmanuel Millan, a vote center manager at the Martin Luther King Jr Recreation Center. MILLAN: “They come out of their shell and like, it's all friendly vibes and they know that they're in a good and safe place to come and vote and do their job.”  Millan said that poll workers there spoke English, Filipino and Spanish. Based on census data, the center also should’ve had Vietnamese, and Laotian-speaking poll workers. For KPBS, I’m inewsource reporter Sofía Mejías-Pasoce. 

inewsource is an independently funded, nonprofit partner of KPBS.

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Coming up.... A local artist is being honored in Washington D-C this weekend for his portrait of Dr. Anthony Fauci. We’ll have that story next, just after the break.

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Mexican artist Hugo Crosthwaite is being honored this weekend in Washington D-C.

His portrait of Dr. Anthony Fauci is set to be unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery today.

KPBS arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans tells us how Crosthwaite used stop-motion animation to capture some of the defining moments of Fauci's career.

The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery will display the film in the Portrait of a Nation Exhibition until next fall. Then the work will be added to its permanent collection.

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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by KPBS Senior Producer Brooke Ruth and Producer Emilyn Mohebbi. We’d like to thank all the military veterans for their service ahead of Veteran’s Day tomorrow. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. I’m Debbie Cruz. The podcast will be back on Monday. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend.