SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The tight race between two democrats to become San Diego's next mayor is seeing an increase in attacks, less than four weeks before the election.
Democrats Todd Gloria and Barbara Bry have both said they were not involved with messages that have gone out over the last few days.
On Wednesday, Barbara Bry called a news conference Wednesday in response to two mailers she said were deceptive — one sent to Democrats made her out to be the Republican choice for mayor, while the other, sent to Republicans, made her out to be very liberal.
"I think these mailers are very deceptive, they do not explain who I am as a person, they were done in a deceitful way to purposely deceive voters about who I am," she said.
Both mailers appeared to be in support of Bry, with quotes or images from well-known public local officials. But a closer look shows that a committee that supports Todd Gloria paid for the ads. Attorney Gil Cabrera, the principal for Neighbors for Housing Solutions Supporting Todd Gloria, which sent the mailers, says their purpose is to show that Bry is trying to be different things to different voters.
"The one thing she hasn't said is that any of the quotes are inaccurate or any of the policy positions are inaccurate, which is, I think, interesting," he said.
A spokesman for Gloria says the candidate is not legally allowed to coordinate with those mailers and has not done so.
Meanwhile, Gloria is taking attacks from conservative radio host Carl DeMaio over his recent support of a bill that doesn't automatically force someone to register a sex offender in certain circumstances after sex with a minor - meant to end discrimination against LGBTQ individuals.
Demaio said he did it on his own and said he has not endorsed Bry. Bry said her campaign had nothing to do with the texts and disagreed with Gloria's vote on the bill, Senate Bill 145.
Political Analyst John Dadian said denouncing an ad would be a victory for an opponent.
"You're never going to agree with your opponent, so that's why she's saying I'm not going to denounce it, you go talk to Carl DeMaio," he said. "And then on the other side of the coin, Todd Gloria is doing the exact same thing."
The race is in a dead heat, according to the ABC 10News/Union-Tribune scientific poll released this week. It showed Gloria leading Bry 39% to 38%, well within the margin of error.
