Election Roundup: Supes, Assembly, and Congress

Voters will cast ballots at more than 1,400 polling places throughout the county in the open primary election Tuesday.

Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler told City News Service that early indications point to a low turnout—in the neighborhood of 40 percent.

Up to last Saturday, 2,212 residents took advantage of a few weeks of early voting at the registrar's office, compared to 8,535 in a similar period two years ago, Seiler said. Roughly 32 percent of the 761,000 or so mail-in ballots that had been sent out were returned by midday Monday, she said.

Polls will be open until 8 p.m., and the first batch of results—from the early voters and mail-in ballots—is expected to be released soon after, according to Seiler. She said the first results from precincts should be available by 10 p.m.

Among the contests being decided by Lemon Grove voters:

53nd Congressional District

Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, and Republican Nick Popaditch are the only two running in the 53rd District, so both will make it to the runoff.

79th Assembly District

Six candidates are vying for a chance at the seat in the redistricted 79th Assembly.

The challengers in Tuesday's open primary election feature four Democrats and two Republicans. The contestants are SDSU professor Shirley Weber (D), community organizer Sid Voorakkara (D), Chula Vista City Councilman Rudy Ramirez (D), educator and activist Pat Washington (D), Lemon Grove City Councilwoman and La Mesa Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Mary England (R), and Matt Mendoza (R), who works as a manager for Boeing Satellite Systems.

Three of the candidates submitted responses to Patch's "virtual town hall" questionnaire:

Here are links to their answers:

San Diego County District 2 Supervisor

Incumbent Dianne Jacob is running to keep her seat. The District 2 race is a rematch of the 2008 election. Rudy Reyes, an archaeologist who was severely burned in the 2003 Cedar Fire, is challenging Jacob to represent East County, including Lemon Grove, and parts of San Diego.

—City News Service contributed to this article.