Real-Time Election Results: San Diego County 2024 Primary

SAN DIEGO, CA — The polls have closed for the 2024 presidential primary election in San Diego County.

Voters in San Diego chose council members and who to serve as mayor. Voters in Chula Vista chose council members and the next city attorney.

San Diego area voters also decided who to represent them in the 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st and 52nd Congressional Districts, as well as the 74th, 75th, 76th, 77th, 78th, 79th and 80th Assembly Districts.

Scroll to the bottom of this story for real-time San Diego County election results.

The Registrar of Voters and Patch will update the results throughout the night as votes are tallied, and the page will be refreshed for the latest updates.

Can't see the results? Click here for all March 5, 2024 Primary San Diego County election results.

Scroll to select the race of your choice in the results below.

Here's a rundown of the races impacting San Diego County:

San Diego Mayor

With presidential frontrunners former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden expected to win their nominations handily, all eyes in California are on the hotly contested primary race for the seat vacated by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein as well as a slew of local races.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria is running for reelection. The mayor, who was elected in 2020, faces four challengers. The top two finishers in the race will head to a November runoff.

Gloria's opponents include Larry Turner, a San Diego police officer; Geneviéve Jones-Wright, an attorney, professor, and nonprofit executive; Dan Smiechowski, a real estate professional; and Jane Glasson, a special education assistant.

San Diego City Council

There are six seats open on the San Diego City Council, including the vacant Council District 4 seat, the results of which could change the tenor of the panel.

District 4 was most recently held by now-County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, whose last action in the role was to push Council President Sean Elo-Rivera into another term in that role by a 5-4 margin.

The move was contentious among the more moderate council members — although the nonpartisan council was made up of nine Democrats, so the scale is relative. New blood in the vacant council seat will likely have an impact on the dynamic of the council.

Districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are also up for election.

In District 1, incumbent Councilman Joe LaCava is running unopposed.

In District 3, incumbent Councilman Stephen Whitburn faces three challengers. His opponents include Coleen Cusack, a trial attorney and educator; Ellis California Jones III, an inspector; and Kate Callen, a community volunteer.

In Council District 5, incumbent Marni von Wilpert is running unopposed.

In Council District 7, incumbent Councilman Raul Campillo is running unopposed.

In Council District 9, incumbent City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera faces two challengers. His opponents include retired police officer and veteran Terry Hoskins, as well as business owner Fernando Garcia.

There are three candidates for the vacant District 4 seat. The candidates include Chida Warren-Darby, a boards and commissions director; Tylisa Suseberry, who works for the state Senate and is a small business owner; and Henry Foster III, chief of staff for Montgomery Steppe.

Chula Vista City Council

Chula Vista has some headline-grabbing races on the ballot, including a battle involving a now-former City Council member who just pleaded guilty to two felony charges.

There are two seats open on the Chula Vista City Council.

The District 4 seat is unoccupied, after Andrea Cardenas resigned the seat last month and the remaining council members declared it officially vacant on Feb. 26.

The District 4 candidates include Delfina Gonzalez, a business owner; Christine Brady, an educator, engineer, and CEO; Cesar Fernandez, a teacher and school trustee; Leticia Lares, a Harborside Park advocate who qualified as a write-in candidate; José Sarmiento, a bank manager; and Rudy Ramirez, a businessman.

The District 3 seat is also open. The seat is represented by Alonso Gonzalez, who is termed out.

The District 3 candidates include David Alcaraz, a businessman; Michael Inzunza, a city commissioner; Daniel Rice-Vazquez, a businessman; Christos Korgan, a Chula Vista Sustainability Commissioner; and Leticia Munguia, a nonprofit director.

The top two vote-getters in both races will advance to the November general election.

Chula Vista City Attorney

Another headline-grabbing race is a runoff to replace a city attorney who died before he was elected.

The runoff is to fill the remainder of a term ending December 2026 — after Simon Silva won the 2022 election despite dying before Election Day, and officials were unable to remove his name from the ballot.

The city attorney position is a citywide race. The runoff from last November's election is between Marco Verdugo, deputy city attorney, and Bart Miesfield, retired municipal attorney.

State Assembly

The primary election includes races for six Assembly seats in San Diego County.

Only two candidates have filed to run in the 74th Assembly District, which covers North County and extends into the southern portion of Orange County. Assemblywoman Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel, will face San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan, a Democrat, guaranteeing a November rematch of the 2022 race, won by Davies, 52.6%-47.4%.

With Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, R-Valley Center, barred from running for reelection because of term limits, six candidates are seeking to take her seat representing the 75th Assembly District.

The candidates include three Republicans: Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego City Council member; Andrew Hayes, president of the Lakeside Union School District Board of Trustees; and Jack Fernandes, a biotech entrepreneur.

The candidates also include three Democrats: Christie Dougherty, a teacher; Joy Frew, a retired government employee; and Kevin Juza, a small business owner.

In the 76th Assembly District, which is mostly concentrated in North County but covers some of the northernmost portion of San Diego, three candidates are running to succeed Brian Maienschein, who is running for San Diego City Attorney.

The candidates include Kristie Bruce-Lane, a Republican, businesswoman and a victims advocate; Joseph Rocha, a Democrat, Marine officer and attorney; and Darshana Patel, a Democrat, scientist and school board member.

In 77th Assembly District, a coastal district stretching from Carlsbad to the border, Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, is seeking a fourth term, with autism researcher Henny Kupferstein, a Democrat, and financial adviser James Browne, a Republican, also running for the seat.

Three Democrats are seeking to succeed Assemblywoman Akilah Weber, D-La Mesa, in representing the 79th Assembly District, which covers southeastern San Diego and El Cajon.

The candidates include Colin Parent, a La Mesa City Councilman; LaShae Sharp-Collins, a San Diego County Office of Education community engagement specialist; and Racquel Vasquez, the mayor of Lemon Grove.

The November matchup in the 80th Assembly District, which covers south San Diego County, is set with Assemblymember David Alvarez, D-San Diego, facing Republican Michael Williams, a retired Navy officer.

The top two vote-getters in the other races will advance to the November election.

State Senate

The lone state Senate race is in the predominately Democratic 39th District, where Assemblywoman Akilah Weber, D-La Mesa, will be the favorite in November against Republican Bob Divine, a retired Navy commander, in the race to succeed Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, who is barred from running for reelection because of term limits.

The district stretches from Solana Beach to southern San Diego, and east into San Pasqual Valley.

Congress

November opponents for the county's five House members will be determined in the primary.

There are six candidates on the ballot in the 48th District, including Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Bonsall, who is seeking his 12th term.

The field also consists of four Democrats and one candidate with no party preference. They include Stephen Houlahan, a Democrat and registered nurse; Matthew Rascon, a Democrat and community volunteer; Lucinda KWH Jahn, a no-party-preference candidate and entertainment industry technician; Mike Simon, a Democrat and energy technology entrepreneur; and Whitney Shanahan, a Democrat and reproductive healthcare advocate.

The 48th District covers a wide swath of North and East San Diego County, and a portion of Riverside County.

The 49th District has five candidates, including Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, who has represented the district since 2019.

The field also consists of four Republicans. They include Sheryl Adams, an automotive technology executive; Matt Gunderson, a small business owner; Kate Monroe, a businesswoman and veteran advocate; and Margarita Wilkinson, a businesswoman.

The 49th District straddles San Diego and Orange counties.

The 50th District, which covers coastal San Diego as well as inland portions of the county extending up into Escondido and San Marcos, has four candidates, including Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, who has served in Congress since 2013.

The field also consists of a second Democrat and two Republicans. They include Timothy Bilash, the other Democrat, a physician and educator; Peter Bono, a retired Navy technician; and Solomon David Moss, a small business owner.

The 51st District, which covers central San Diego and parts of East County, has four candidates, including Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-San Diego, who is seeking a third term.

The field also consists of one Republican and two candidates without a party preference. They include Bill Wells, a Republican and the mayor of El Cajon; Stan Caplan, a small business owner; and Hilaire Shioura, an educator and business owner.

The 52nd District, which covers southern San Diego County, has two candidates, including Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, who has represented the region in the Assembly, Senate and Congress since 2000. He is facing Republican challenger Justin Lee, who is a business owner.

The top two candidates in each race will advance to the November general election.

Presidential Primary

The primary will decide which candidate gets California's 169 delegates — the largest haul of any state — to the Republican and Democratic national conventions, to be held in July and August, respectively.

All three top contenders have been stumping in California. President Joe Biden and Republican contender Nikki Haley visited Southern California earlier this month. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump campaigned in the Golden State days after skipping the Republican debate in September.

There were notable changes to California's primary this year. It moved up from June to Super Tuesday in March with 13 other states.

In California, the political parties determine whether they will have open or closed presidential parties, meaning only the party's registered voters can pick the winning candidates.

The Green Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Republican Party are all holding closed primaries in California

Furthermore, the state's GOP changed the rules to winner-takes-all, so that any candidate who gets a majority wins all of the delegates. Previously, the delegates were divided up based on the number of congressional districts each Republican won.

The change, pushed by the Donald Trump campaign, raises the stakes in California's primary and favors the frontrunner in the Republican primary, which also happens to be Trump.

The American Independent Party, the Democratic Party, and the Libertarian Party hold a modified-closed primary, which means they allow No Party Preference voters to vote in their primaries.

Click here to check your voter and party registration status.

Statewide Primary Elections

All 52 of California's congressional districts will have primary races March 5 along with one U.S. Senate race.

With frontrunners Trump and Biden expected to sail to victory in California's presidential primary, the real suspense centers on the Golden State's senate race.

For the senate race, California has an open primary, which means only the top two vote-getters in the primary election, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election.

All election season, polls have shown Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) in the lead with former Los Angeles Dodger Steve Garvey (R), Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine ), and Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland) vying for second place to make it into the general election. However, last week Garvey pulled into first place after consolidating conservative support and with a little help from an ad campaign by Schiff aimed at raising Garvey's profile over Porter, who is seen as the bigger threat in the general election.

According to a new polls from UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, Garvey pulled into first place with the support of 27 percent of likely voters compared to Schiff's 25 percent and Porter's 19 percent.

Just weeks earlier a California Elections and Policy Poll released in February had Porter and Garvey deadlocked in the race for second place.

Schiff went into February far in the lead with 25 percent of likely voters while Porter and Garvey, each garnered support from 15 percent of likely voters. Lee was polling in fourth place at 7 percent of the vote, according to the poll.

It's been decades since a Republican won statewide office in California, and that may be why the Schiff campaign is expending considerable capital to raise Garvey's profile among Republican voters through a series of expensive Fox News ads, touting him as too conservative for California.Garvey, with just over $300,000 in his war chest, can't afford such ads.

Porter blasted the tactic as a “brazenly cynical” bid for Schiff to handpick his opponent in the general election, counting on deep blue California to reject any statewide Republican candidate in the general election.

According to Politico, Porter and Schiff booked a staggering $25 million in airtime. Schiff has nabbed the bulk of the Democratic establishment endorsements such as Nancy Pelosi, United Farm Workers and the Los Angeles Times editorial board. Porter, a darling of progressives, garnered endorsements from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, CA Attorney General Rob Bonta, and consumer advocacy groups.

Proposition 1

In 2004, California voters approved a tax on millionaires to finance mental health services. The tax raises $2-$3 billion annually to fund mental health programs through local government. Proposition 1 would require counties to spend 60 percent of the money on housing and programs for homeless people with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse problems.

Related: CA Proposition Aims To Tackle Homelessness; Some Worry It'll Worsen It

City News Service and Patch Staffer Michael Wittner contributed to this report.