John McCann shows prospects of becoming the newest member on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, but current Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre is right on his heels. Their close unofficial polling results may indicate that a runoff election could take place between the two candidates in July.
An April 8 special primary election for the First Supervisorial District moves the county forward in its months-long work to fill a seat left vacant earlier this year after former chairwoman and District 1 supervisor Nora Vargas resigned due to personal safety and security reasons.
Unofficial results released by the County of San Diego Registrar of Voters showed McCann leading with 42.4% of votes as of 6 p.m. on April 11.
Paloma Aguirre is close behind with 32.3% of votes.
While this is a nonpartisan election, the board is currently split with two Democrats and two Republicans. McCann, a Republican, would bring forth a shift of the governing body to a Republican majority. Aguirre would bring a shift to a Democratic majority.
“I am thankful for the hundreds of volunteers who have worked on my campaign and the thousands of voters that cast their vote for me,” McCann said. “They know I will bring common sense back to San Diego County by supporting law enforcement to keep our streets safe, getting homeless off the streets, working to get real solutions on the Tijuana sewage issue and opposing the mileage tax.”
These unofficial results — first posted shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday and updated on Thursday — include election day ballots, ballots returned by mail and at official ballot drop boxes prior to election day as well as ballots from early voting between March 29 through April 7. The Registrar of Voters office projects there are 4,500 outstanding ballots.
The county office will continue updates through next week.
A 10.9% difference between the top candidates shows there is not a majority vote, which according to the county, the top two vote-getters will move on to the special general election on July 1.
“This runoff is a clear choice between Democratic values that put working people first, and a Trump Republican agenda that would be a complete disaster for all of San Diego County,” said Aguirre in a statement. “I won’t stop until we build an affordable, safe, and clean South County for everyone. I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer when it comes to cleaning up the outrageous Tijuana River sewage crisis. And I won’t ever stop until San Diego County government starts working hard for people who work hard and deserve so much better.”
District 1 candidates
There are seven candidates vying for the vacant district seat.
District 1’s population of more than 630,000 people includes residents from the cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and National City; several south San Diego neighborhoods, including Barrio Logan, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro; and five unincorporated communities, such as Bonita and La Presa.
Aguirre, Carolina Chavez, McCann and Vivian Moreno are four of the candidates who currently hold office in South County.
Aguirre, a Democrat, was elected as the first Latina mayor of Imperial Beach. Since then she has been active in confronting the Tijuana sewage crisis alongside Coronado’s elected officials and environmental advocates. She was named vice chair of the California Coastal Commission last December.
Chavez, a Democrat, was elected to her first term as Chula Vista Council member in 2022 and currently serves as a representative on the South County Economic Development Committee, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System and the San Diego Association of Governments.
McCann, a Republican, was elected mayor of Chula Vista in 2022 and completed half of his first term this December. He is a decorated Iraq war veteran and continues to serve as a commander in the United States Navy Reserves, according to his biography. He has also been a crusader for public safety and has worked to prioritize neighborhood infrastructure improvements.
Moreno, a Democrat, was elected to represent San Diego’s District 8 in 2018 and won her re-election in 2022 for a second term. She currently serves as chair of the city’s Audit Committee, is Vice Chair of the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee and a member of the Committee on Land Use and Housing and Rules Committee, according to her campaign website.
Should one of those candidates win the supervisorial election, he or she must give up their other elected office “if the offices have overlapping and conflicting public duties,” the Candidate Filing Guide says.
Elizabeth Efird, Louis Fuentes and Lincoln Pickard are the remaining three candidates who don’t currently hold office.
Efird, who has not previously been in office, told the San Diego Union Tribune she respects the values of the Democratic party, but her approach is not driven by partisan politics. She is an energy consultant, a Chula Vista resident and does not have a campaign website.
Fuentes, a Republican, is the former Imperial County Board of Supervisors chair. He is the president of Air Conditioning Guys, Inc. and previously served as a co-chair of the Southern California Association of Governments.
Pickard, a Republican, is an associate at Mannatech, a marketing firm that sells dietary supplements. He has not previously been in office, but has had unsuccessful runs for the state Legislature and San Diego City Council.
Results updates
The results of the election for the district, with more than 373,000 registered voters, will be certified by May 8. Until then, all results are unofficial.
The position will be a 3½-year term ending in January 2029.
The Registrar of Voters will issue election updates by 6 p.m. Friday, April 11, and Monday, April 14.
Additional updates, at the discretion of the Registrar of Voters, will be displayed on the unofficial results bulletin available at https://www.sdvote.com/ with details about the next posting.
