SAN DIEGO (CNS) — As the April 8 special election for San Diego County's First Supervisorial District approaches, seven vote centers will open today for early voters. The vote centers will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Monday, April 7, at the locations below:
- Bonita-Sunnyside Branch Library community room, 4375 Bonita Road, Bonita
- Chula Vista City Hall, 276 4th Ave., Chula Vista
- County of San Diego HHSA conference room, 690 Oxford St., Chula Vista
- West View Elementary auditorium, 525 3rd St., Imperial Beach
- Mountain View Community Center back meeting room, 641 S Boundary St., San Diego
- San Ysidro Senior Center, 125 E Park Ave., San Diego
- Spring Valley Community Center Olsen Room, 8735 Jamacha Blvd., Spring Valley
On the final day of voting, April 8, six more vote centers will open for a total of 13 locations, and the hours will change to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
More than 370,000 ballots were sent to registered voters in the district to fill the term vacated by then-Supervisor Nora Vargas for the remainder of the current term on the Board of Supervisors that ends in January 2029.
According to the county, if no candidate receives a majority vote at the April 8 election, the top two vote-getters will move on to the special general election July 1, 2025. Only those who live in the district can vote in the election.
The candidates for the seat and how they are identified on the ballot are:
- Elizabeth Efird, an affordable energy consultant;
- Vivian Moreno, councilmember;
- John McCann, mayor of the city of Chula Vista;
- Paloma Aguirre, mayor of the city of Imperial Beach;
- Louis A. Fuentes, a small business owner;
- Lincoln Pickard; and
- Carolina Chavez, Chula Vista deputy mayor.
District 1 covers nearly all of San Diego County's southern reaches, from the ocean to the Otay and San Miguel mountains in the east and from Barrio Logan in the north and the U.S.-Mexican border to the south.
In late December, following a resounding re-election victory, Vargas surprisingly said she would resign on Jan. 6 — the date her first term ended.
"Due to personal safety and security reasons, I will not take the oath of office for a second term," she said in a statement at the time. "It has been my honor to serve in public office during unprecedented times, including the past four years on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
Lawson-Remer is acting chair after a vote to pick a new leader failed. Lawson-Remer, officially vice chair, was nominated by Montgomery Steppe to be chair to succeed Vargas. Desmond nominated himself as chair, but that attempt failed on a tie vote. He and Supervisor Joel Anderson voted in favor, while Lawson-Remer and Montgomery Steppe opposed.
With the departure of Vargas, a Democrat, the board's current makeup is two Democrats (Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe) and two Republicans (Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond). The board is considered a nonpartisan governing body.
In 2023, supervisors approved a special election to replace District 4's Nathan Fletcher, who resigned in May of that year due to sexual harassment allegations that he has denied. Vargas was elected to the board in 2020, replacing former Supervisor Greg Cox on Jan. 4, 2021. She was the first Hispanic woman to serve on the board.
She succeeded Fletcher as board chair after his resignation amid scandal.
Residents can find out what district they vote in at sdvote.com.
Early voting began March 10 at the Registrar of Voters office in Kearny Mesa, 5600 Overland Ave. Residents can vote at home and return ballots through the mail or drop them off at any of 26 official ballot drop-boxes starting Tuesday, March 11 through Election Day.
Copyright 2025, City News Service, Inc.
