Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre is one of two candidates in a run-off for a seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ first district.
Unofficial election results show Aguirre received 32.3% of votes and will move ahead to a general election on July 1 against Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, who finished first with 42.4% of the total ballots.
While the election is technically nonpartisan, Nora Vargas’ abrupt departure left a split board in its wake – with two Democrats and two Republicans on the dais. Now that majority control is on table, the partisan backing of whoever fills the empty seat holds significant weight.
McCann was one of three Republican candidates in the special election, and Aguirre was the top vote-getter among three Democrats.
District 1, which includes Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, and National City – along with several south San Diego neighborhoods including Barrio Logan, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro, and five unincorporated communities – has a population of 630,000 people.
And Aguirre, a Democrat, is bringing partisan politics into play this election, one she said will determine the balance of power on the Board of Supervisors.
“It’s a choice between two very different visions for the future,” said Aguirre. “We cannot go back to the days where Republicans controlled the board and our communities south of (Interstate) 8 were an afterthought. We need a fighter who will stand up to Trump’s agenda, not someone who will do Trump’s bidding and take donations from the criminals he pardoned.”
Aguirre, 48, 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 in December.
Aguirre settled in Imperial Beach after spending most of her formative years in Mexico. She said South County offers a rich diversity enjoyed by many.
“I didn’t come back to the United States until I was an adult, and all I had was a suitcase and $500 to my name,” she shared. “My story isn’t unique. Our cross-border community and economy is perhaps the best thing about our region.”
As supervisor, she said her leading concerns will be resolving the Tijuana sewage problem that causes beach closures, as well as dealing with affordable housing needs and the homelessness epidemic.
The Coronado News asked Aguirre about her priorities for the district. Answers are edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: A victory will mark the end of your tenure as mayor. What is your final message to your supporters and those who did not support you?
Aguirre: This is going to be a tough campaign, so I’m not taking victory for granted. That being said, it is a tremendous privilege to serve on the City Council and more recently as mayor. Together with my colleagues, we’ve been able to cut homelessness by more than 50%, protect renters from exploitative practices, and add more police officers, firefighters, and lifeguards. I’ve served for 6 1/2 years, and my only regret is I couldn’t serve longer. But I know that I’ll be able to do more good for my constituents as a county supervisor, and I’ll be leaving the city better than I found it.
Q: How will your leadership differ from that of your predecessor?
Aguirre: As the mayor of Imperial Beach, I enjoyed a working relationship with the previous supervisor. However, we had a different approach on some issues. One area we disagreed on was the Tijuana River Valley pollution, which has closed beaches in my city for 1,000 consecutive days and sickened hundreds of families. As mayor, I’ve pushed for more aggressive action from all the supervisors, and I know the county could do a better job mitigating the exposure to these pollutants, whether by air or water, and lobbying the federal and state governments more effectively for an emergency declaration.
Q: Considering the board is split, how do you see your partisan backing influencing those dynamics?
Aguirre: Here in South County, I’ve noticed it’s mostly the Trump Republicans running for office who say party affiliation doesn’t matter. I think it matters where you stand, especially at this time when women’s rights are under attack, when the White House is deporting legal residents to El Salvador, and when Trump’s attacks on our allies and even our own military are destabilizing our cross-border economy.
We need to elect people who care about kitchen table issues, but also leaders who will stand up for our community when the president puts our constituents in harm’s way. We’ve seen how Republicans in Congress and even the ones on the Board of Supervisors act. Electing someone to represent South County who belongs to Donald Trump’s Republican Party is a recipe for disaster.
Q: Do you have a particular topic you plan to prioritize?
Aguirre: Yes, I have been working my entire adult life on cleaning up the Tijuana River Valley, and I’ll make sure the county finally treats the issue with the seriousness it deserves. I’ve invited EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to come down to the river and see for himself the damage that it’s been causing here.
He’s committed to revisiting my request for a Superfund designation, which will finally bring the funding and legal framework to clean up the river and stop the pollution from flowing into the Pacific Ocean. … I will continue to pressure the governor and president to declare a state of emergency. We also need to be tough negotiators with Mexico to make sure they’re taking this issue seriously. They just recently brought the sewage treatment plant on their side of the border online, and we need to take commensurate action here to be a good neighbor.
Q: How do you plan to address other issues impacting both your community and county-wide constituents?
Aguirre: We need a county government that works for everyone — not just the privileged few. That means expanding access to mental health care, increasing funding for workforce training, protecting renters, and making our region more resilient to climate change. These aren’t partisan issues — they’re kitchen-table concerns. I’ll bring a mayor’s urgency and a public servant’s focus to solving them.
