SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — A health executive and the mayor of Poway jumped to early leads Tuesday evening in their bids to claim open seats on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
District 1 board members Greg Cox and District 2's Dianne Jacob are both termed out, meaning the board will have to new members.
Cox, a Republican, has been in office since 1995, representing the district that includes National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado, along with 19 communities within the city of San Diego, including Barrio Logan and Sunset Cliffs. It also features the unincorporated communities of Bonita, East Otay Mesa, Lincoln Acres and Sunnyside.
Nora Vargas, a health executive, grabbed an early lead in the race to replace him, securing 54.49% of the early vote to 45.51% for state Sen. Ben Hueso.
Both Vargas and Hueso are Democrats.
Hueso, a former San Diego City Council member, has represented Senate District 40 since 2013.
Vargas is a vice president of Planned Parenthood of the Southwest and also serves on the Southwest Community College board.
The District 2 race, meanwhile, had Poway Mayor Steve Vaus with a narrow 51.02% to 48.98% lead over fellow Republican and former state lawmaker Joel Anderson.
The termed-out Jacob, also a Republican, joined the Board of Supervisors in 1993. The district is home to the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Poway and Santee; and the San Diego communities of Allied Gardens, College Area, Del Cerro, Grantville, Navajo, Rolando and San Carlos.
It also covers East County's unincorporated communities of Alpine, Campo, Julian, Ramona, Rancho San Diego and Spring Valley. Anderson represented the East County in the Assembly from 2007 to 2009, and in the state Senate from 2010 to 2018.
A Grammy-winning recording artist, Vaus first served on the Poway City Council before winning the 2014 mayoral race. His leadership during the deadly 2019 shooting at a Poway synagogue received national attention.
In the District 3 race, challenger Terra Lawson-Remer — a Democrat who served as a senior adviser in the Obama administration — had a 61.14% to 38.86% lead over incumbent Kristin Gaspar — a Republican elected in 2016.
The coastal/North County district includes a dozen neighborhoods within the city of San Diego, including Carmel Mountain Ranch, Mira Mesa and Rancho Penasquitos. It also includes the cities of Del Mar, Encinitas, Escondido and Solana Beach.
A former Encinitas mayor and City Council member, Gaspar is also a small business owner.
Lawson-Remer has never held public office, but was endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Scott Peters and county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.
— City News Service
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