The power to appoint Supreme Court Justices is mentioned during every presidential race, but the death of Justice Scalia creates the first election year Court vacancy in decades. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s announcement that the Senate will not confirm an appointee means the issue will be alive through November. President Obama’s promise to perform his…
Monday night, Iowans cast the first votes in the 2016 presidential election. Sen. Ted Cruz won a clear, if somewhat small, Republican victory. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton beat Sen. Bernie Sanders by a razor thin margin to take the Democratic win. The vote tally, however, has only a small role in determining a…
Earlier this month, Democrat Joe LaCava ended his City Council bid. It’s a bigger deal than you may think. LaCava was running to replace Democrat Sherri Lightner, who is termed out in District 1. Before Lightner, the District was represented by former Councilmember and now U.S. Representative Scott Peters. If that makes District 1 sound…
Local Politician of the Year: Mayor Kevin Faulconer. How does the mayor win with the Chargers likely leaving San Diego and no Comic-Con approved Convention Center expansion? Simple. Despite those issues, he is a Republican poised to skate to re-election unopposed in a city with a plurality of Democrats. Two Democratic powerhouses, Councilmember Todd Gloria…
The NFL has frequently demonstrated its ability to selectively black out a broadcast in San Diego, so I have a request: Could they please prevent their “Football is Family” commercials from being seen in our media market? You’ve seen them – families receiving and wearing branded sweaters and baby clothes, typically from competing teams, usually…
SAN DIEGO — Ocean Beach Town Council President Gretchen Newsom announced Friday that she is pulling out of the race to become mayor of San Diego. “I have decided that I will not run for mayor,” Newsom said in a statement. “My husband and I have recently decided to divorce on an amicable basis and,…
The first votes in the 2016 presidential race will be cast at the Iowa caucuses Feb. 1. That leaves establishment Republicans just over 50 days to avoid nominating a candidate too conservative for the general election. They should start by getting some of the moderate candidates to drop out, and can use the 2012 San…
In presidential election years, the five odd-numbered City Council districts are up for election. As with the California legislative elections, they can be dull because the incumbent wins easily or the general election features two candidates from the same party. 2016 looks to be a bit more interesting than most, with three open seats and…
Local races for the California legislature are often a snooze fest. Incumbents rarely lose, and the districts have a sufficient partisan lean that successors are anointed by the party or chosen in the primary. Those trends appear likely to hold for incumbent Assemblymembers Marie Waldron (R-75), Brian Maienschein (R-77), Shirley Weber (D-79) and Lorena Gonzalez…
With Election Day 2016 now less than a year away, it is time to take a break from presidential debate analysis and focus the next few columns on San Diego contests. In the past few weeks, new candidates have emerged in races that had been static for months. There will no doubt be a few…
