Councilmember David Alvarez looks to increase GOTV on election day tomorrow

by Brian Leubitz

David Alvarez was a little behind the game when he squeaked into the second run-off spot for the special election after former Mayor Filner was forced to abdicate the post.  Kevin Falcouner had a lead, and had mostly consolidated the Republican base in the city. On the other hand, Alvarez was coming off a contentious race against Republican turned Independent turned Democrat Nathan Fletcher. Fletcher endorsed Alvarez, and quietly stepped away from San Diego politics, leaving a lot of wounds to heal.

But, slowly that process has occurred and Alvarez is now showing strong support from Democrats and beyond. While iti is technically a nonpartisan race, the city of San Diego went strongly for President Obama in both 2008 and 2012. In 2012, over 61% of the vote went to Obama, and that makes the news of his endorsement in the race that much more powerful:

“As a native San Diegan, David Alvarez has been a fierce advocate for his city, and on the Council, has led efforts to build a strong middle class, put neighborhoods first and expand opportunities for kids in and out of school,” Obama said in a statement. “Today, with the city’s economy and neighborhoods poised to make progress there is no question that David is the right choice to be San Diego’s next mayor and I am excited to support him.” (KPBS)

But, there is a lot of work to be done. The race is a dead heat in recent polling, and turnout will be critical. You can make calls to help GOTV through the CDP here. Better yet, if you are in the San Diego area, there is simply no replacement for door knockers on election day.  Click here for an event calendar and to get involved tomorrow.

San Diego Councilman has surged to a tie in the polls

by Brian Leubitz

After the last round of ballots, Kevin Faulconer was polling well ahead of preogressive councilman David Alvarez. But, Alvarez has surged to a dead heat in the last few weeks, and the race will come down to turnout in what is yet another election in San Diego. Oh, and Alvarez is now very competitive in the cash-on-hand race.

So, folks in San Diego, make sure you’ve voted early. And the Alvarez for Mayor website has a lot of information on what you can do to help in the final two weeks. In the meantime, here’s some music to inspire you as you get ready to knock on some doors:

Dababneh in extremely tight race in AD-45 special

by Brian Leubitz

Apparently the phrase “playing with house money” has caught fire in San Diego. David Alvarez has a solid hold of a San Diego council seat and a bright future no matter what the outcome of the mayoral election. But now he is the Democratic hope to defeat the somewhat reactionary Kevin Faulconer in the February 11 runoff.

Faulconer led a field of 12 candidates in Tuesday’s special election with 43.58 percent of the vote, with vote by mail ballots and all 581 precincts counted, according to figures released by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.

Alvarez finished 2,638 votes ahead of former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher in the race for second. He received 52,283 votes, 25.59 percent of the vote, and Fletcher 49,645, 24.3 percent. (News10)

Though there are still some early and provisional votes outstanding, it seems unlikely that Fletcher will overcome Alvarez. And with that, some are saying that this could be the end of Nathan Fletcher’s political career. While it is possible to make a political comeback, the timing of this mayoral election wasn’t really great for Fletcher. He kind of had to run, with his new Democratic label and high visibility. But, he never really had the time to win over the Democratic base.

And that is where Alvarez came in. He was the biggest beneficiary of attacks in many mediums against Fletcher, but now he’ll be going head to head with Faulconer. At some level, maybe the Republicans were more worried about facing Fletcher in a run-off, but their personal dislike of the man than many considered a “turncloak” was very strong. And the wounds were still fresh from that switch. Maybe time will heal some wounds, but don’t expect a quick turnaround of Fletcher’s political fortunes.

In another race in Southern California, Democrat Matt Dababneh (and Rep. Brad Sherman’s district director) is locked in a way too close race with Republican Susan Shelley. With all precincts reporting, Dababneh holds a 13,309-13,136 lead with some provisionals and early votes still out.  The district is heavily Democratic, but turnout was once again very low allowing Shelley to make a strong showing.  The results in this one are likely to need a while to settle out. A Dababneh win would be the 54th Democratic seat, and return the supermajority that took its most recent hit with Holly Mitchell’s move to the Senate.

UPDATE: Fletcher just conceded the race and endorsed Alvarez.