SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Ahead of California’s primary election in March, voters in the City of San Diego appear to be backing incumbent Mayor Todd Gloria but are less certain when it comes to a second candidate he would face in the November general election, according to a new 10News/San Diego Union-Tribune poll.
The poll, released on Jan. 8, 2024, shows Gloria with a lead of 34% of the vote (if votes were cast today), with four candidates -- former public defender Geneviéve Jones Wright; SDPD Officer Larry Turner; Professor Thomas Nguyen; and special education assistant Jane Glasson -- each with 4% of the vote. Author/nursing student Athena Johnson and real estate professional Daniel Smiechowski each had 2% of the vote, according to the poll.
The two candidates with the most votes in the March 5 primary election will move on to the November election.
Despite Gloria garnering 34% of the vote in the poll, 47% of city voters were undecided.
In the poll, voters were asked what issues were most important to them in determining who they would vote for in the San Diego mayoral race, and the results were:
- Cost of living (31%)
- Homelessness (22%)
- Housing (13%)
- Economy (13%)
- Crime (12%)
- Climate (6%)
- Something else and not sure (both 2%)
On the topic of San Diego’s homelessness issue, 75% of voters were in support of the city’s Safe Sleeping sites program.
Overall, the poll showed city voters were not satisfied with how Gloria has handled the homeless problem; according to the poll, 35% of voters felt the mayor was doing a fair job with the issue, but 30% felt he has done a poor job of handling the problem.
In other races, 52% of voters were undecided in the race to determine who will replace City Attorney Mara Elliott. The poll shows State Assemblyman Brian Maienschein with 28% of the vote, while Deputy City Attorney Heather Ferbert has 21% of the vote.
Poll results were determined by SurveyUSA interviews conducted between Jan. 3-7. In the poll, 850 adults were interviewed; 761 were identified as registered to vote, while 527 of those registered voters were likely to vote in the March 5 primary election, Survey USA said.
