San Diego

Newsom Makes Campaign Stop in San Diego

The current state Lt. Governor was hosted by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 221.

With just over three weeks before the June primary election, gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom was in San Diego holding what his handlers are calling his 31st such meeting during his campaign.

The current state Lt. Governor was hosted by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 221 in Kearny Mesa. He spoke for about an hour and a half in front of a friendly audience, which interrupted him several times with polite applause.

Newsom touched on many of the hot-button topics dominating the campaign, including the state’s housing crisis. He spoke of moving homeless away from shelters to the so-called housing-first model.

“Shelters solve sleep. Housing and supportive services solve homelessness. So you have to redirect the continuum of care to a housing-first model,” said Newsom.

He also talked about what he characterized as a controversial model to help spur more home building. He suggested re-directing property tax funds from county agencies to local cities.

“Right now, cities are not incentivized to build housing. They’re not. Cities are incentivized for big box retail. No mayor will tell you that,” said Newsom.

He also talked about gun control and his push for background checks for the purchase of ammunition.

“Gun safety laws save lives,” said Newsom.

He also spoke on a wide-ranging number of topics including health care and wildfire prevention. He said there needs to be a prevention strategy that would include, for example, a council for issues such as thinning out vegetation.

Taking a question from a fifth grader who asked how to make class size smaller, Newsom said there needs to be more funding for public education.

Newsom reinforced his support for legalized marijuana and told the group of about 75 people that it will take five to seven years to clarify local laws and meet revenue projections.

Recently, the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune endorsed Democrat and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, citing his history of taking on unions. Newsom bristled at the idea of playing friendly to unions.

“The difference is, I didn’t use them as sparring partners. I looked at them as working partners. I built partnerships and I’m proud of that support,” said Newsom.

The top two candidates in the June primary will face each other in the November election. Polls show Newsom with a lead over Villaraigosa and Republican John Cox.

After the town hall, Newsom said he would rather face Cox. In emailed statements, this was the response:

“Bring it on Gavin! That matchup gives Californians the clearest possible liberal versus conservative choice,” said Cox.

“While Gavin Newsom is trying to lift up Republican John Cox, Antonio Villaraigosa is organizing a campaign to lift more families into the middle class. The difference couldn’t be clearer,” said Villaraigosa's spokesman Luis Vizcaino.

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