At the national level, the Democratic party swept the House and Senate, and won unexpected victories across the map in the midterm elections.
At the local level, in Coronado, registered voters remained consistent with the past few elections in party preferences and early election results showed an almost even split in some of the biggest state races.
As of Nov. 10, there were over 500 more registered Republicans than Democrats in Coronado during the Nov. 3 midterm elections, as Republicans accounted for 4,059 of the 11,087 total voters and Democrats accounted for 3,493.
Coronado Republicans have maintained a slight edge in numbers compared to their Democratic counterparts over the past two years, as the 2024 presidential elections reported over 600 more Coronado voters registered with the Republican party that year.
While these numbers show that Republicans still have a slight lead, it’s clear that the two parties have almost pulled even in a city that once heavily favored the red ticket. A decade ago, Coronado had an estimated ratio of two Republicans to every one Democrat, according to the Voice of San Diego.
Stephen Goggin, associate professor of political science at San Diego State University, said this shift is reflective of a larger trend in the last decade. While higher income voters have traditionally been a Republican constituency throughout the 20th century, he said, it has become more correlated with being Democratic, though not strongly so.
“The real partisan divide that has opened up in the past decade is not based on income, but on education, which is obviously correlated with, but not determinative of income,” Goggin said. “And of course, California has trended more Democratic over the years, and this is likely part of a long-term trend, even with Coronado still hosting a larger-than-average Republican voting bloc for California.”
Compared to the presidential election two years ago, this Nov. 3 general election shows that both parties dropped in numbers in Coronado, as did the total number of registered voters (11,418 in 2024).
For Republican voters in Coronado, that number fell by almost 200, as the total Republican count in 2024 was 4,244 compared to this year’s 4,059.
The number of registered Democrats in Coronado also decreased by a little over 100 in that two-year span, as the reported number of Democrats in Coronado in 2024 was 3,602 and this year was 3,493.
Goggin noted that presidential elections draw a larger number of registered voters compared to midterm elections, so it is not surprising that the numbers have dropped in the past two years. The drop could also be attributed to the make-up of no-party-preference (NPP) voters, he said.
“The number of voters registered NPP has generally risen over time, though has dropped a bit in the past few years,” he said via email. “Many NPP voters are partisans who just choose to register NPP, so interpreting the overall makeup of partisan strength based on pure registration numbers can be a bit tricky, as depending on the way the NPP voters lean in a particular area, you might get a distorted picture.”
How did Coronado vote in big ticket items?
Given that backdrop, here’s how Coronado voted for the biggest races:
Democrat Xavier Becerra won the race to take California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s spot as he closes out his second term. Becerra, a former state attorney general and Biden administration official, had a decisive lead in early election results, winning 65.8% of votes compared to his Republican counterpart, Steve Hilton, who had 34.2%, as of Nov. 10.
Becerra’s conclusive lead at the state level was not reflected in Coronado’s voting. Locals slightly favored Republican candidate Hilton, although the votes were almost 50/50, with Hilton receiving 5,196 and Becerra receiving 5,146, as of Nov. 10.
While not a direct comparison due to the different offices, Coronadans slightly favored the Democratic ticket in the 2024 presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. That year, there were 4,580 votes for Harris and 3,897 votes for Trump.
It’s important to note that midterm elections typically have a 40% voter turnout and presidential elections hover around 60%, according to FairVote. It is also important to note that roughly a third of the ballots in San Diego County still needed to be counted as of Nov. 8, according to Goggin, so these preliminary numbers are likely to change.
This election, Coronado voters favored the Democratic ticket at the congressional level, choosing incumbent Scott Peters to represent the city for another term in the U.S. House’s 50th Congressional District of California.
Peters had a definitive lead at the state level with 62.9% of votes as of Nov. 10, compared to Republican Steve Cohen’s 37.1%, and Coronado’s early votes showed Peters was favored.
Peters received 5,590 of Coronado votes as of Nov. 10 and Cohen received 4,668, showing a winning margin for the Democratic ticket.
Laura Wilkinson Sinton, president of the Coronado Democratic Club, said that on a national level, the club predicted wins, but not at this scale.
“… Democrats took statehouses and governorships and seats across the nation in the reddest of states (I’m looking at you, Texas and Georgia),” Wilkinson-Sinton said in an email. “It renewed our Democratic Club’s faith in the nation as sharing our democratic values of economic fairness and equal opportunity, social and racial equality and civil rights protections…
“The people have spoken, and clearly, this is a generational shift,” she added.
At the local level
Although local races are officially nonpartisan, party politics invariably play a background role.
For the two open Coronado City Council seats, incumbent Kelly Purvis and Rebecca King appear to have taken the early lead, but Ricky Hoyt was very close behind as of Nov. 10, just 49 votes shy of King.
The Coronado Unified School District race, in which there are three open trustee seats, shows early leads for incumbent Alexia Palacios-Peters, incumbent Mal Sandie, and Peggy Duncan. Kaye Schneider is a little over five percentage points behind Duncan as of Nov. 10.
“As a club that represents local Republicans and conservative-minded independents with no party preference, we’re proud of all the candidates endorsed by the Coronado Republican Club and grateful for their willingness to serve Coronado,” said Kevin Shaeffer and Rhonda Fleming, co-chairs of the Coronado Republican Club, in a joint statement via email. “While final results are still pending, Kelly Purvis (for council) and Peggy Duncan (for school board) are doing very well. They are outstanding local women and our community would be well-served with their experienced leadership and sound judgment.”
Wilkinson Sinton said that 100% of the Democratic Club’s endorsed candidates appear to be headed to elected office.
“We are thrilled, and our candidates were all solid, experienced, long-time residents of Coronado who are either spouses of active duty officers (Alexia), a retired naval officer and Annapolis grad (Mal) and spouse of retired Navy physician (Rebecca),” she said.
How the former Coronado mayor fared
Former Coronado mayor Richard Bailey, no party preference, lost the San Diego City Council District 2 race to Nicole Crosby, a Democrat, with a 12% margin as of Nov. 10.
When Bailey launched his campaign for San Diego City Council last February after moving from Coronado to Point Loma in 2025, the former mayor said he saw a desire for more policy-focused conversation as opposed to the “performative political theatre we regularly see.” Formerly a registered Republican, Bailey re-registered in February listing no party affiliation.
Following the election results, Bailey posted a statement on his social media wishing Crosby the best in representing San Diego County.
“Despite a better campaign, better strategy and better policies, we couldn’t control the political climate, where national partisan labels mattered more to many voters than policy positions,” he said.
Other races
Meanwhile, voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase that would increase the county’s base sales tax rate from 7.75% to 8.25%. The measure received 52.8% of votes in favor as of Nov. 10, with votes against taking up 47%.
Supporters estimate the increase would generate up to $450 million annually for health care, child care, wildfire prevention and projects addressing sewage pollution in the Tijuana River Valley, which makes up 22.5% of the budget.
County officials have not specified which specific projects that funding would go toward, but they have discussed building a new treatment plant to treat wastewater coming from the Tijuana River.
Additionally, Coronado voters strongly opposed Measure D, a proposal to raise the maximum permitted building height from three stories to four on a section of Orange Avenue.
The results remain unofficial. San Diego County is scheduled to certify its election results by Dec. 3, with statewide certification set for Dec. 11.
