SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Mayor Todd Gloria maintained a nearly 10-point lead over San Diego police officer Larry Turner Wednesday, with thousands of ballots yet to be processed.
Incumbent Gloria held a 54.5% share of the vote compared to Turner's 45.4%, a lead that has closed slightly since initial results but still appears insurmountable with a 33,000-vote deficit.
Turner has not conceded.
"It's like being down a couple of touchdowns at halftime, but a new team of voters -- independents -- are coming in for the second half," he said. Turner claimed independents will break for him with 590,000 ballots remaining to be tallied in the county.
Gloria declared victory on election night after the initial results.
"We are not turning San Diego around, we are going to move forward," he said at his election night event, referencing Turner's campaign ads.
Turner, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, ran a well-financed campaign, but a significant cohort of undecided voters appeared to break for Gloria.
Gloria, a Democrat, faced off with the independent Turner for the nonpartisan office. However, the SDPD officer 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 went toward Turner's campaign.
Democrats responded by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars 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 and basketball legend 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.
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.
Turner, self-described as a "lifelong independent" who said he is not "beholden" to the two major political parties, does not have elected experience. As a result, he centered his campaign not on touting his own plans but blasting Gloria's efforts.
Turner 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.
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