Campaign season underway for County Board of Supervisors 2018 race
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — While it’s still a ways off, the County Board of Supervisors races in 2018 will dominate the primary campaign season, which is already underway.
Term limits have forced Ron Roberts in District 4, and Bill Horn in District 5, from office, opening the possibility of the board shifting to the left after decades of solid Republican rule.
The board has had all Republicans since 1995, with one exception being Democrat Dave Roberts in 2012 who was unseated by Republican Kristin Gaspar, after serving only one term.
Based on demographics from the past election in those districts, we could see two Democrats joining the three Republicans.
The Democrats have a 2 to 1 registration advantage in District 4.
So far, Omar Passons, an attorney and VP at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, and Oceanside Councilmember Ester Sanchez are announced candidates.
Nathan Fletcher has all but formally entered the race after losing the mayor’s race twice. He’d likely be a shoe-in with labor support unless Bonnie Dumanis also jumps in, which could make for a highly contentious, and expensive race that would dominate the primary campaign.
The Republicans have a slight registration advantage in District 5.
Oceanside Councilmember Jerry Kern and San Marcos Mayor Jim Desmond have formed committees to run. This is the race that could split the board 3-2. Remember, Bill Horn nearly lost his seat in 2014.
The Democrats have total control of the legislature. They now want to control the state’s two largest population counties: Los Angeles and San Diego.
They’re working on legislation to dismantle the panel of retired judges who draw district lines, and replace them with a 14-member commission whose political party affiliation would reflect registration in the counties.
If successful, the Democrats would not only have political, but ideological control of the county’s $5 billion budget.
The county has turned from red to blue. Democrats now hold a 200,000 registration advantage over Republicans, and their numbers are even higher in the city.
