SAN DIEGO (CNS) - As San Diego voters head to the polls Tuesday, they will have a choice to keep Mayor Todd Gloria in the city's top spot or back San Diego police officer Larry Turner for a change of pace.
In March's primary election, Gloria pulled in 50% of the vote, followed by 23.1% for Turner and 15.9% for Geneviéve Jones-Wright, an attorney/professor/nonprofit executive.
But an embattled Gloria might face a tighter race than previous results would suggest, with retired Marine lieutenant colonel Turner running a well-financed campaign, and a huge cohort of undecided voters leaving questions for the election.
Gloria, a Democrat, will face off with nominally independent Turner for the nonpartisan office. However, the SDPD officer has received financial support from Republicans throughout the past six months.
In September, local attorney Steven Richter donated $1 million to the conservative Lincoln Club of San Diego's political action committee. Much of that will likely go toward Turner's campaign.
Democrats have responded by raising several hundreds of thousands in a political action committee of their own, led by Stephen Cushman, one of the biggest champions of and consultants for Gloria's proposed "megashelter" at Kettner and Vine.
Gloria was initially elected in 2020, in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic downturn. He earned the endorsement of then- Senator Kamala Harris in 2020.
His term has been a challenging one, as San Diego faced a slew of problems, including increasing rates of homelessness and housing costs, the rising threat of fentanyl, questions about the city's infrastructure following the Jan. 22 storms and the worsening of the ongoing Tijuana River Valley sewage pollution crisis.
Many of these issues are out of Gloria's direct control, but as the face of the city, he has borne the brunt of the criticism. Last year, former unofficial city ambassador Bill Walton made news by calling out Gloria's response to homelessness as inadequate. Walton died in May.
Gloria has touted his administration's efforts to build more housing, repair the city's aging infrastructure and provide more shelters for the homeless.
"Mayor Gloria understands that tackling this crisis requires a balanced approach -- one that treats those experiencing homelessness with dignity and compassion, while also ensuring that public spaces are safe and accessible for everyone," a statement from his campaign reads.
In what may be a tactic to gain more conservative voters against a right-of-center opponent, Gloria has also pivoted to taking a tougher stance on crime and being less forgiving to the homeless unable or unwilling to stay in shelters.
In September, he joined residents and business owners in downtown San Diego's East Village neighborhood to endorse a plan seeking to completely ban homeless encampments and tents downtown, as well as having faster police response times, stronger sentences for smash-and-grab crimes and forcing people with addiction and mental health issues into state conservatorship.
"Gloria's approach balances smart investments in public safety with efforts to build trust and transparency between law enforcement and the community," reads his campaign website. "The result couldn't be more clear: San Diego is now one of the safest major cities in the U.S., and we're headed in the right direction."
Turner, self-described as a "lifelong independent" who is not "beholden" to the two major political parties, does not have elected experience. As a result, he has centered his campaign not necessarily touting his own plans but blasting Gloria's efforts.
"I will be an independent voice that represents the citizens of San Diego, not a political party or soft-on-crime ideology," reads Turner's campaign site. "I'm here to deliver solutions only, to save the lives of our homeless struggling to survive (and our businesses alike), to return safety and dignity to our streets."
He has previously said the homelessness crisis will be handled "in the first 180 days of my tenure," by immediately directing the construction of 5,000 shelter beds -- particularly focused on those addressing mental health and addiction. How he intends to do this is made less clear, but he has blamed Gloria for lack of action and then attacked his choices when the mayor has tried to get something off the ground, such as the Kettner and Vine project.
Turner has also put an emphasis on improving infrastructure, using the San Diego Convention Center year-round as an economic engine, keeping small businesses in San Diego, focusing less on bike lanes in transit and an expedited route for undocumented people to become Americans.
Turner's candidacy was challenged in a quickly dropped lawsuit in the run up to the primary election, contending he was not a resident or registered voter in the city of San Diego 30 days prior to filing his nomination papers, as required.
Turner denied the allegations. A statement from his campaign stated that he lived in Bonsall in parts of 2016 and 2017, and between 2020 and early 2023, his family stayed in Alpine, but he otherwise has lived in San Diego. Turner said that during the period in question he was living in East Village, but has since moved to Ocean Beach.
The police officer has also faced pushback from his own union. He has said he would consider cutting police benefits and putting a freeze on new hires as a way to balance the city's budget, but has since walked that back.
Gloria too made the San Diego Police Officer's Association bristle during the pandemic by at first requiring all city employees to be fully vaccinated. This was met with outrage and worries about keeping the SDPD fully staffed. The mayor ultimately backed down, allowing for significant numbers of police officers and other city employees to have exemptions.
The SDPOA only endorsed Gloria on Oct. 10, following Turner's statements above in a televised debate. Gloria also has the endorsements of the state and county Democratic party, Gov. Gavin Newsom, the city's firefighters and Planned Parenthood.
Turner's website does not list endorsements but has received one from La Prensa. The San Diego County Republican Party has not endorsed either candidate.
Early voting has begun, with mail-in ballots to every registered voter already sent. The San Diego County Registrar's office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for people who wish to vote early in person.
On Election Day, all vote centers and ballot drop boxes will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
A list of the locations of official ballot drop boxes and voting centers can be found at https://www.sdvote.com/content/rov/en/elections/election_information.html.
Copyright 2024, City News Service, Inc.
