San Diego Politics Blog

The Pomerado Newspaper Group has the skinny on a race to be the "honorary mayor" of Rancho Bernardo.

The election involves selling tickets (proceeds going to benefit charities) which are akin to votes.

The candidate who sells the most tickets becomes the honorary mayor and on Election Night they draw tickets for a raffle to award prizes to some of those who participated.

Read more about this nifty system they’ve had in place since 1991 here.

Alot of attention has been focused on 2 things in the campaign for the 50th.

1) The Bilbray-Busby back and forth bashing and how the campaign will play out as the two muddy each other up.

2) The "will he or won’t he run" questions facing Eric Roach. 

But what may also emerge as an interesting factor in this race will be the role Democrat Chris Young might play.

Unlike the 18-candidate herd that stampeded through the precincts of the 50th on April 11th, on June 6th there will only be 1 or 2 serious Republican candidates, Francine Busby as the leading Democrat and then the questionmark candidate, Chris Young.

If Bilbray hits Busby enough, can Young find a niche with local Democrats?  Can Young attract the votes of disaffected Republicans if Busby seriously wounds Bilbray, but Roach decides NOT to run on June 6th?

Or will Young be forever marginalized by the establishment of the Democrat Party?

On her campaign website Chris Young says she is "left of the neocons" but also "right of the liberals"

The question:  will Young make a serious effort to raise the money to have a voice in this campaign, or will she merely be a protest vote limited to issuing public statements and appearing in rare interviews with the local media?

Republican 2nd place finisher, Eric Roach, is thinking about shooting for a first place finish on June 6th.

Roach has spent the past several days in Washington, D.C. with his advisors, blogger Jon Fleischman and 50th district candidates Bill Hauf and Howard Kaloogian.

Jon Fleischman’s been blogging about this like a roadie/groupie getting to sing live on stage with his/her favorite band.  Read all the various threads here.

George Will is less giddy, but still interested in the soap opera that is the race for the 50th.  You can read his column "Political Stew in San Diego" here.

Monday is the big day for the pro- and counter- forces in the immigration day.  Some people call it "Day Without a Mexican" (that would be Roger Hedgecock and sidekick Jimmy Valentine citing the 2004 movie by the same name) others call it "STOP: International Boycott in Support of Immigrant Rights" (that would be Stacy Taylor and company at KLSD).

Rick Roberts of KFMB has launched a major initiative via his "I Want My Country" back petition drive.  The main page of the KFMB website promotes Roberts’ effort.  He isn’t too keen on the boycott/strike by supporters of illegal immigrants.

Roger Hedgecock in contrast wants people to spend till their wallets are barren to show up the efforts by supporters of illegal immigration to dry up the economy for one day.  Read more on Hedgecock’s "BUYcott" here.

Meanwhile, on the left, Air America’s KLSD 1360 is promoting the May 1st pro-illegal immigrant rights’ event on their website.

5th district supervisorial candidate, Bill Horn, has already been in hot water over a house he owns but let’s his good woman friend & Chief of Staff, Joan Wonsley, live in.

Now, Horn’s opponents are criticizing him for coordinating his campaign from an office outside of the 5th Supervisorial District.

On his website, Horn encourages supporters to contact his campaign headquarters at (760) 942-9961.  The problem is that the "942" prefix is in Encinitas - which is outside the 5th Supervisorial District.

Here’s a map of the district along with a listing of cities and zip codes in the district.

The race for the 50th congressional district has moved from talk of child pedophiles to child pornographers.

Democrat Francine Busby said she may sue to stop the broadcast of an ad by the National Republican Congressional Committee (in support of Republican candidate Brian Bilbray) which includes a quote from Busby that praised a man who had been charged with child pornography.

It also includes Busby’s comments to reporters in 2004 responding to the arrest of an elementary school teacher for investigation of trying to possess child pornography. The ad cites Busby’s comments to reporters that she was she was shocked by the arrest. She told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Dale Regazzi was a dedicated teacher who was "always willing to lend a hand."

Somehow the expression "always willing to lend a hand" isn’t the most politically astute response a person could make about an acquaintence who’s just been busted for kiddie porn.

Read more in this AP Wire story.

San Diego’s Indymedia reports on plans for a May 1st rally and march by immigration activists who are unhappy with the immigration reform proposals being considered by the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.

Del Mar residents are getting involved in a fight over the Del Mar Shores public recreation site which id adjacent to the Winston School.

Area residents are worried that the land might cease to be used for public recreation and would instead be developed for private use.  As a result, they’re taking action, urging the City Council to hold strong in negotiations with the Del Mar Union School District.

Community support for preservation of the land has been strong. A large group of community members joined together to form Friends of Del Mar Parks, which has been actively fundraising since January.

Read more in this story in The Coast News.

Republican State Assembly candidate, Joel Anderson, is throwing a fundraiser hosted by the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians at the May 8th Padres game against the Chicago Cubs. Tickets are $1,000 if you’re a VIP, but you can pick them up on the cheap for just $500 if you aren’t such an important person.

Anderson is a conservative Republican running for the 77th Assembly District (represented by Jay La Suer) who has the support of State Senator Bill Morrow.

The 2nd place Republican in the April 11th special election, Eric Roach, has decided to look to the people of Washington, D.C. to decide whether to run in San Diego’s 50th congressional district.

According to the North County Times Roach is meeting with conservative groups in the nation’s capitol to see if they might be willing to back him against fellow Republican Brian Bilbray in the June 6th Republican primary (this would be for the 2 year term).

It’s unclear from the NC Times story what kind of reaction Roach has been getting.

While stressing that Roach has yet to make a decision, Roach spokesman Devereux said "there is a concern among many Republicans about holding on to the seat."

He said that opinions are split on whether Roach should compete against Bilbray in the primary.

"One viewpoint is that everybody needs to coalesce around Mr. Bilbray," Devereux said. "Another point of view is that conservatives are not energized enough to even turn out to help him win the runoff."

3rd place Republican candidate in the April 11th election, Howard Kaloogian, told the NC Times in an earlier story that he was willing to back Roach over Bilbray if Roach decides to run.

While picking up a pledge of support from Kaloogian, Roach also lost a supporter when former Congressman Ron Packard (who had been one of Roach’s few key endorsements) announced he would now be backing Bilbray in the spirit of party unity.