Meeting up with the 2024 San Diego mayoral candidates

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Mayor Todd Gloria is seeking a second term as San Diego's leader but he'll first need to beat out five other candidates.

Two of his more recognizable challengers are former public defender Geneviéve Jones-Wright and police community relations officer Larry Turner. Also on the ballot are Jane Glasson and Dan Smiechowski.

Gloria, Jones-Wright and Turner agreed to sit down with NBC 7 to discuss the issues facing San Diego and how they would handle them if elected in the November General Election.

Housing and homelessness are, thus far, tentpoles of all three campaigns. Mayor Gloria wants to stay in office to finish what he began, including bringing his recently-passed housing plan to fruition. He said his goal is to increase housing availability and affordability for middle-income San Diegans.

"Housing is my passion subject, and it's the through line, through my career in public service,” said Gloria. “Under my leadership, the city has increased its shelter capacity by over 70%. This is in the context of a pandemic and economic and social upheaval. Yet we've been able to get those additional beds, every one of them an opportunity to get an individual off the street for good that is under the most difficult of circumstances. I want the opportunity to do this job in more normal circumstances.”

Jones-Wright honed in on the need for more workforce housing, including for nurses and teachers. The former public defender, who is the founder of the social justice and equity nonprofit MoGo, said she hopes to represent disenfranchised voices in City Hall.

"Having an affordable, safe, open and accessible San Diego for every single San Diegan. I really want to make sure that my city, my hometown, is a city where every single San Diegan can thrive," Jones-Wright said.

Turner, a former Marine Corps intelligence officer, said his top priority is public safety. He also expressed discontent with Mayor Gloria's approach to handling homelessness.

"You know, I've worked with these people so much I see that these cookie cutter approaches and just giving them these tents out in these parking lots is not working. They're also temporary. It's not even a serious plan. It's a temporary solution to try to lower numbers in our city. And it's a disgrace to the people who are living there and to us that are being given this line that the homelessness is being decreased in our city," said Turner, who said as mayor, he would transform downtown San Diego within six months, although he said he would provide specifics on that plan at a later date.

Mayor Gloria has received pushback on several of his homelessness policies, including from both Jones-Wright and Turner. However, when asked by NBC 7 if he stands by his policies, he said, "100%"

"This is not easy work with regard to our housing crisis," said Gloria. "But I'm giving it everything I possibly got to make sure that when you are in need of a place to live, that we have a place to go."

Mayor Gloria has received endorsements from the San Diego Democratic Party, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council. Turner is endorsed by famed San Diego-born NBA player Bill Walton.

The primary election is on March 5, 2024.