If you thought the fight for Chula Vista City Council Seat No. 1, couldn’t get closer, it has.
Only 66 votes separate the candidates.
Republican candidate John McCann is hanging on to a slight lead with 18,334 votes. Democratic candidate Steve Padilla is gaining some steam at 18,268 votes as of 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Still, both candidates are calling each other out right until the very end.
“We know the truth,” McCann said. “My opponent ran the dirtiest campaign in Chula Vista history, and we know we did the right thing and we know we will continue to support the citizens and not the special interests."
McCann showed NBC 7 a mailer which, he says, shows Padilla supporters defaming him by insinuating he was sentenced to a felony and was involved in the Sweetwater pay-to-play scandal.
Meanwhile, McCann says Padilla was kicked out of mayoral office and had a staffer convicted of a felony.
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Padilla says he is proud of the campaign he ran and will continue fighting for what’s right for Chula Vista families.
“I’m sorry that Mr. McCann is upset that we drew attention to his record at Sweetwater,” Padilla said. “He doesn’t seem to like to be accountable for his decisions unless they make him look good, but that’s not what leadership is about. That’s not what public responsibility is about.”
The County Registrar of Voters says it still has 14,000 mail-in and provisional ballots left to count.
