San Diego March 2024 Voter Guide: What's On The Ballot, Voting & More

SAN DIEGO, CA — The 2024 presidential primary election season in San Diego County is officially underway, but the real excitement in California comes in the form of down-ballot races.

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.

Locally, voters in San Diego will choose council members and who to serve as mayor. Voters in Chula Vista will choose council members and the next city attorney.

Voters will also choose 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.

Use this tool from the San Diego Registrar of Voters Office to view a sample ballot specific to your voting address.

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.

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

How To Vote

California voters have three options to vote.

Mail in ballot: Voters can mail in the ballots they received in the mail by signing them, sealing them and placing them in either a mailbox or an approved drop box. Approved drop box locations are listed on county websites. Google "drop box locations" and your county, and a list should pop up.

Early voting: Each county will have at least one location where voters can vote in person or drop off ballots at least 10 days before primary election day. See here to find your nearest early voting location.

Traditional in-person voting: Polls will open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 5. See here to find your polling location. Polling locations will also be mailed to voters with their ballots.

2024 Election: Endorsements And Voter Guides

• CalMatters
• East Bay Times
• Los Angeles Times
• The Orange-County Register
• The San Diego-Union Tribune
• Sacramento Bee
• San Francisco Chronicle
• California Secretary of State Voter Guide
• California Democratic Party Endorsements
• California Republican Party Endorsements

Key 2024 Election Dates In California

Here’s what you need to know about the 2024 election calendar in California:

• Election day is March 5, but early voting centers will open Feb. 24.
• Feb. 5 was the deadline for county officials to begin mailing each registered voter a vote-by-mail ballot.
• The last day to register to vote in the election is Feb. 20. Click here to register to vote.
• Vote-by-mail ballot requests must arrive by Feb. 27, 2024. Check your county election office website to request a vote-by-mail ballot if you have not received one yet.
• All votes must be cast by March 5 and received by election officials by March 12.

Mail-in voters in California now have a way to track their ballots to make sure their votes are counted. The California Secretary of State is now offering Where's My Ballot? for voters to track and receive notifications on the status of their vote-by-mail ballot.

With Where's My Ballot? Voters who sign up will receive notices via email, text, or voice message from the county elections official regarding the status of the voter's vote-by-mail ballot including:

• When the ballot has been delivered
• The date that the voter's ballot is expected to be delivered to the voter
• If the voter's ballot is returned as undeliverable to the county elections official by the USPS
• When the voter's completed ballot has been received by the county
• Whether the voter's completed ballot has been accepted or a reason why the ballot could not be accepted and instructions of steps the voter can take in order to have the ballot accepted
• The deadline for the voter to return his or her ballot if the county has not received a voter's completed ballot by specified dates as determined by the county elections officials

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