Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Democrats endorse Aguirre

My understanding was that the vote for the endorsement had one nay and all the rest aye.

From today's UT:


SAN DIEGO – Incumbent City Attorney Michael Aguirre won the overwhelming endorsement of the county Democratic Party last night and said afterward that he was eager to ramp up his re-election campaign.

“We'll soon be announcing our campaign consultants and our campaign manager and I'll be going door-to-door,” Aguirre said. “We're also setting up 50 coffees throughout the city, and we'll be carrying out a very vigorous campaign.”

Aguirre, a Democrat, faces San Diego Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith, a Republican, in the Nov. 4 election. While the race is ostensibly nonpartisan, party support can be helpful to candidates through mailers to party members and other assistance.

Aguirre finished second to Goldsmith on June 3 in a five-person race that included two other Democrats, including City Council President Scott Peters. The county Democratic Party did not endorse anyone in that race because it did not reach a consensus about which of the candidates was most electable, said party chairman Jess Durfee.

In November, however, “we're supporting Aguirre 100 percent,” he said.

Aguirre has been a polarizing figure at City Hall as he has frequently clashed with Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council on issues of the deficit-plagued employee pension fund and the role of the city attorney.

All the while, Aguirre has declared himself the city attorney for the people of San Diego – a posture that resonated with some in attendance at last night's meeting at the State of California Building downtown.

“I don't know of anybody who has stuck his neck out as much as Michael Aguirre,” said Mary Christian-Heising, a longtime Democrat. “Let's get behind the Democrat who has stood for us.”

How much the party will spend on campaign materials has not been decided.

“We haven't developed our plans for candidate support at this point for the fall campaign,” Durfee said. “We'll assess that as we look at our resources.”

Aguirre may need all the help he can get. He was elected in 2004 by a slim margin – 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent – over Leslie Devaney.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go Mike Go!

Anonymous said...

Ugh, I hope the party doesn't waste any time or money on this guy.

Anonymous said...

What, and let Goldsmith just waltz on in and deliver San Diego on a platter to Sanders?

I'm not a big Mike fan but this is an easy decision to make. I can see why the party voted as they did.

Anonymous said...

That the Democratic Party endorsed makes sense. Against Goldsmith Mike's record is a shining beacon of hope.

Anonymous said...

They both have their work cut out for them. It should be a street-fight which gives Mike the edge.

Anonymous said...

We can't be serious no wonder we can't win elections in this town we endorse the worse candidates possible.