Two of the brightest young lights in the San Diego political sky -- Democrat Jared Quient and Republican Andrew Lund -- are weighing in every other week on hot topics.
This week's topic: What's your take-away from this week's elections? -- Ed.
Quient's Punch: One take-away from this week’s election is that San Diegans are ready for new leadership at the county board of supervisors. Proposition B, which imposes term limits on members of the Board, passed overwhelmingly. More people voted against long-term Republican incumbents Ron Roberts and Bill Horn than voted for them. Both will face runoffs for the first time in more than a decade, and neither has a cakewalk in the general election.
Another take-away is that there is a rising star in the San Diego Democratic Party, and his name is David Alvarez. Alvarez surprised the pundits by claiming first place in the District 8 City Council primary. He bested a large field, including two candidates with household names, by outworking and outorganizing his opponents. He now becomes the favorite in November’s runoff.
Lund's Punch: Tuesday's election results show a high level of enthusiasm among Republican voters. To date, 53 percent of ballots counted have been Republican, while Republican registration in San Diego is only 35 percent. This means that decline-to-state voters are voting more Republican then Democrat.
Locally, we saw Kevin Faulconer get re-elected with 61percent of the vote, Lorie Zapf get first place going into a runoff election and the strong mayor form of government passed.
There is also Republican enthusiasm for the governor race, with the top two Republican vote-getters winning more votes than the Democrat nominee. Also, the Top 3 Republican vote-getters for U.S. Senate received more votes than Barbara Boxer.
These results show that 2010 will be an exciting election season for Republicans, and we look forward to making it a year to remember!
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Quient's Counterpunch: While Andrew's numbers may be technically accurate, they are incredibly misleading. Republicans had competitive races for governor and senator, while Democrats did not. Look for Democrats to come out in full force during a hotly contested general election.
Lori Zapf's reign at the top of District 6 will be short lived. Howard Wayne will unite the party faithful, outwork Zapf and keep the seat Democratic.
Lund's Counterpunch: While it is true that Proposition B passed in the county, it is not exactly an anti-Republican message. Although the board is conservative, they do not hold partisan office, so it is difficult to link a term-limit initiative to the performance of Republicans specifically.
Also, we saw Proposition K and Proposition G pass, so, overall, center-right issues are still prevailing in San Diego County.
Jared Quient is the director of project development at AMSOLAR, a local solar energy company that develops innovative solar solutions for schools. He is also the treasurer of the San Diego County Young Democrats and is on the board of the San Diego League of Conservation Voters.
Andrew Lund is the president of the San Diego Young Republicans
