By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO– Congressman Bob Filner (D-San Diego) won a spot in the November runoff election for mayor of San Diego by gaining 30.11 percent of the votes cast in Tuesday’s election, two percentage points behind the frontrunner, City Councilman Carl Demaio.
If elected in November, Filner would be the second member of the Jewish community to win San Diego’s top political position. The first was Susan Golding, who served from 1992 to 2000.
Another high-profile candidate from the Jewish community, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, finished fourth in that race, behind Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, whose highly touted switch from the Republican party to non-partisan ranks helped propel him to third place. Dumanis, a Republican, was in the middle of her term as district attorney, and will continue to serve in that position.
In the coming weeks, Fletcher and Dumanis will be closely watched to see if they will endorse one of the top finishers.
In other local contests in which Jewish candidates competed:
–City Councilwoman Marti Emerald was elected to the newly created 9th City Council District, having previously served in the 7th Council District. She received an overwhelming majority of the vote, thereby avoiding the necessity of a runoff election.
–Mat Kostrinsky was defeated in the open 7th City Council District, falling to Scott Sherman who gathered about 51 percent of the vote.
–Congresswoman Susan A. Davis, a Democrat, won an overall majority of votes in the 53rd Congressional District, but nevertheless will face Republican nominee Nick Popavitch in the fall election.
–Assemblyman Marty Block, a Democrat, finished first in the race for the 39th State Senate District, narrowly trailed by Assemblyman George Plescia, a Republican. The two will face each other in November.
–Bernie Rhinerson was easily the top finisher in the District B race for San Diego Community College board. He will face Scott L. Hasson in the November election.
In statewide balloting, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) won over 49 percent of the vote in a 24-candidate field. She will face Elizabeth Emken, who received 12.5 percent of the vote, in the November general election. Feinstein was also first in San Diego County balloting but by a lesser percentage.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com