In a message to the media today, Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda accused new Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, and the entire old guard of the San Diego Republican Party (including Mayor Cox’s husband, Board of Supervisors member Greg Cox) of conspiring to run him out of office and/or destroy his life.

I guess maybe Democrats aren’t the only ones who chafe when the fresh blood doesn’t get a fair shot huh?

Castaneda was a candidate in last year’s primary for Chula Vista mayor to unseat incumbent Steve Padilla (who came out while mayor to notable fanfare and scorn).  The primary, and the runoff general election, was eventually won by Cheryl Cox.

Now Castaneda is coming out angry.  He’s been investigated for three different matters since last March and subpoenaed three times to appear before a grand jury.  In his statement, Castaneda said “I’m up for re-election in 2008 and I’m sure that the Coxes and their political allies would like nothing better than for me to run with a cloud over my head or flat-out resign.”

Among other interesting tidbits is the way he ties the old-school power network of San Diego County together, not entirely unlike his mailer last year depicting Cheryl Cox as a spider in the center of a web of consultant fees:

Castaneda said that Dumanis is part of the county’s “old power structure” that also includes Cheryl Cox’s husband, County Supervisor Greg Cox – who has budget authority over the District Attorney’s Office, he said.

Finally, the intrigue goes still deeper as Castaneda tries to retract “privileged” information:

In a subsequent e-mail, he retracted the sentence stating that O’Toole threatened to charge him with a felony if he didn’t resign.

“The mistake was not made by Steve Castaneda, but rather the assistant that prepared the release not knowing that information may be deemed privileged,” the e-mail stated.

Obviously, there’s a lot more than meets the eye going on in San Diego County, and not a lot of it would surprise the folks of Calitics.  But there’s not nearly enough light being shone on all the backroom deals and string-pulling from both parties in this county to keep a lid on messaging and ensure that they get the candidates and the issues they prefer.  I don’t know how much truth there is to this personal vendetta against Councilman Castaneda, but I know that any discussion about the way politics happens in San Diego is good.  I hope this pisses some people off.