Cole, Zapf lose re-election bids in two rare instances of San Diego council incumbents being rejected

Incumbent San Diego Councilwomen Lorie Zapf and Myrtle Cole have lost their re-election bids, the first two incumbents to be defeated in San Diego council races since 1992.

The loss by Zapf gives Democrats a 6-3 majority on the council, which allows them to override vetoes by Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer on contentious issues.

In the other two council runoffs, incumbent Republican Chris Cate was re-elected, and a staffer for termed-out Democratic Councilman David Alvarez will replace him.

Zapf lost to Democratic challenger Dr. Jennifer Campbell by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent in a race that could shift the balance of power at San Diego City Hall. Those results are with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Despite the long track record of success for council incumbents in San Diego, Zapf was considered vulnerable because party registration in her beach-area district has shifted toward Democrats, who had a 32,000-to-22,000 lead in registered voters through Oct. 3.

Campbell will replace Zapf District 2, which includes Point Loma, the city’s beaches and a slice of western Clairemont.

Montgomery, a civil rights lawyer, beat fellow Democrat Cole in the June primary by six votes. But Cole was buoyed by strong support since then from organized labor and some Republican leaders.

Montgomery’s win will move the council farther to the left. She is more liberal on many issues than Cole, who is considered a moderate Democrat.

Montgomery won by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Montgomery will replace Cole in District 4, which includes much of southeastern San Diego.

Cate defeated radio personality Tommy Hough in the other runoff featuring a Republican versus a Democrat. Cate won by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Cate represents District 6, which includes Mira Mesa, Kearny Mesa and eastern Clairemont.

Alvarez staffer Vivian Moreno defeated fellow Democrat Antonio Martinez in the race for District 8, which includes Sherman Heights, Barrio Logan, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro.

Moreno won 52 percent to 48 percent with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Moreno took first by a wide margin in the June primary, but Martinez gained momentum when he was endorsed by third-place finisher Christian Ramirez and the county Democratic Party.

The Zapf-Campbell race has featured aggressive spending on behalf of Campbell by local labor unions, and aggressive spending on behalf of Zapf by local business groups.

A slew of mailers sent on behalf of Zapf attack Campbell, a retired doctor, for allegedly committing disability fraud. Campbell says the charge is inaccurate and that the mailers are misleading.

Mailers from the other side attack Zapf as a Republican aligned with President Donald Trump and who is out of touch with the left-leaning district. Zapf says those mailers are unethical rhetoric, asserting that she is a moderate Republican.

Campbell said at Golden Hall on Tuesday night that the results show that Zapf’s mailers backfired.

“For them to stoop that low, I think the citizens just saw right through it,” Campbell said.

Campbell said there will be a different vibe at City Hall with Democrats notching the veto-proof majority they’ve long sought.

“The mayor will need to be working with us in concert,” Campbell said. “We will all need to work together and be collegial and get our problems solved.”

Campbell said she suspects voters made the rare decision to oust an incumbent because Zapf hasn’t been responsive to constituents.

“I think the voters chose someone other than the incumbent because they are ready for an intelligent, common-sense representative who will pay attention to them and their needs,” she said.

Both women live in the Bay Ho section of Clairemont. Campbell is 73 and Zapf is 60.

In the Montgomery-Cole race, Montgomery said at Golden Hall on Tuesday night that she will be a significantly different leader than Cole.

“It will be community first, community first, community first, as opposed to special interests,,” she said. “The people who backed my opponent are interested in individual votes and they’re not interested in the people.”

Montgomery said she knew from the beginning that it would be hard to unseat an incumbent, but it became especially difficult when labor unions contributed huge sums of money to help Cole, who also got late support from some local Republican leaders.

“I knew we would have to make history,” Montgomery said. “We had a grass roots campaign with over 400 volunteers, and we needed it.”

Montgomery has portrayed Cole as a City Hall insider too focused on politics and who hasn’t helped her low-income communities get the jobs, amenities and resources they lack.

Cole has focused on the dozens of capital improvement projects she has brought to the area as the city has broken infrastructure spending records in recent years.

Montgomery resigned as a staff member for Cole last year when the incumbent condoned some forms of racial profiling, saying blacks frequently shoot blacks.

Cole, who has served as council president the last two years, later apologized for the comments, but not before Montgomery had decided to challenge her former boss’s re-election bid.

Cole, 68, lives in Redwood Village. Montgomery, 40, lives in Skyline Hills. Both women are black.

In the Cate-Hough race, Cate attributed his victory to his track record of accomplishments since taking office four years ago, which he says included innovative problem-solving for constituents and the city.

“I think we’ve been able to deliver results.” Cate said at the U.S. Grant Hotel on Tuesday night

He said the loss by Zapf, which increases the Democrats majority from 5-4 to 6-3, could significantly change the political dynamics at City Hall.

“I think it’s going to come down to the approach that my potential new colleagues want to take,” he said. “Do they want to be partisan in how they approach the different issues at City Hall, or do they want to have a more open-door policy where they work with all of their colleagues.”

Cate said having a sixth vote could prompt Democrats to become more aggressive on controversial policies they might not have pursued before. He contends that would be a mistake.

“We are a local government that is there to solve the problems of our residents and not to take what happens in Sacramento or D.C. and bring it into San Diego,” he said. “Only time will tell what kind of approach they want to take.”

Hough has criticized Cate as someone who has let District 6 voters down in many ways since being elected in 2014.

Cate says he’s proud to run on his record, which has included paving 190 miles of roads, increasing hours at libraries and recreation centers and saving two senior centers facing possible closure in Mira Mesa and Clairemont.

Both men live in Mira Mesa. Cate is 35 and Hough is 49.

In the Moreno-Martinez race, the two progressive Democrats ran partly on the record of Alvarez, who can’t run for re-election after eight years representing the district.

Moreno, an Alvarez staffer, is running on her City Hall experience, knowledge of complex international border issues and what she calls a track record of success for Alvarez.

Martinez, a San Ysidro school board member, says Moreno is out of touch with ordinary residents and too friendly with downtown developers. And he says Alvarez has a spotty track record that is making residents crave a change.

Martinez, 33, and Moreno, 36, both live in San Ysidro.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick