A third Coronado City Council member has submitted his run for mayor, and it’s former mayor Casey Tanaka.
Tanaka has a long history with Coronado’s local politics ever since he moved to the island from Oahu when he was seven years old.
He ran for city council and got elected at the age of 26, moving up the ranks to being elected mayor by the age of 32 in 2008. He continued to win a second mayoral election four years later, serving two full terms until December of 2016 when Mayor Richard Bailey was elected.
Bailey was the youngest mayor of Coronado, being elected to his position at 30.
Both Bailey and Tanaka were elected to serve on city council at just 26, being the youngest to ever sit on Coronado’s city council.
Tanaka will be running for mayor against two other current city council members, John Duncan and Mike Donovan.
Tanaka kept his eye on Coronado politics for years before, ever since he was in middle school, noting that he always had an interest in government.
He first tried to run for city council when he was just 24.
He didn’t get elected the first time, but once in office, he held a position in local government for the next 14 years.
Long time teacher
But, even earlier than becoming a council member at 26, Tanaka started teaching at Coronado High School just three years after he graduated from it.
He finished his bachelor’s degree in history at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in three years, along with a minor in political science.
I really liked the lineage of how [with] the history teachers I had, one had taught the other. I liked the idea that if I was good enough, I could be the third generation of that.
Council member Casey Tanaka
“I liked the idea of being able to teach at Coronado. I really liked the lineage of how [with] the history teachers I had, one had taught the other,” Tanaka says. “I liked the idea that if I was good enough, I could be the third generation of that.”
And he’s taught the same advanced placement U.S. history and U.S. government classes for almost 25 years.
Even though his role in local government hasn’t lasted as long as his teaching career, it’s pretty close.
Possible ninth year as mayor
Tanaka came back to run for city council in 2020 and was elected back as a council member after four years, and now has decided to revisit his old stomping grounds as the mayor.
“Running for mayor, that’s my vision,” Tanaka says. “You should really want to be doing everything you can to pump people up in their city. And, obviously like a parent, you try to keep that kid, Coronado, out of trouble to the extent that you can.”
He says trust and confidence are among the most important qualities a mayor should have, and he believes that he’s earned the residents’ trust after serving them for almost two decades.
Tanaka also believes there aren’t any specific promises he should run on, and that his campaign is about Coronado residents hopefully seeing him as a safe and thoughtful choice.
“My biggest argument is that if you saw me as a mayor the eight years I did it, and you felt that was a stable set of hands to steer the ship, that’s what I want to provide,” Tanaka says.
He says any campaign promises he would’ve made and issues he wants to work on, he has the opportunity to work on now as a council member.
If you’re the mayor of Coronado, you should be the city’s biggest cheerleader. You should be the biggest supporter of all things Coronado.
Council member Casey Tanaka
“If you’re the mayor of Coronado, you should be the city’s biggest cheerleader. You should be the biggest supporter of all things Coronado,” Tanaka says.
