Elections were a mix of surprises, expected results

Some local elections went as predicted while others resulted in surprises as voters cast their ballots in June and November.

The biggest shakeup among political races occurred in the District 3 County Supervisor race. Incumbent Roberts, a Democrat, faced scandal over staffing issues that resulted in the county settling the with three former staffers by paying out $310,000 when they accused Roberts of misusing his powers. That incident was repeatedly brought up in the June primary by his two Republican opponents, Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar and Escondido Mayor Sam Abed.

Roberts was forced into a runoff to defend his office when in the primary he failed to get a majority — only receiving 38.73 percent, while Gaspar received 34.24 percent and Abed 26.89 percent.

When polls closed in November, it appeared that Roberts managed to win reelection by a very slim margin. However, over the next two weeks as mail and provisional ballots were counted, his lead dwindled and by Nov. 28 he conceded since Gaspar days earlier took the lead which subsequently grew to 1,242 votes.

Her election means all five seats, at least for the next two years, will once again be filled only by Republicans. Roberts had been the first Democrat to join the board in about two decades.

Other races that got a lot of notice — but in the end saw the incumbents get reelected — included the 52nd Congressional District (Democrat Scott Peters defeated challenger and Republican Denise Gitsham 56.53 percent to 43.47 percent). The district includes Rancho Bernardo and Poway. In a very narrow 49th Congressional District race, Republican Darrell Issa held off Democrat Doug Applegate, though it also took a few weeks to determine a winner. The district includes 4S Ranch.

There was some controversy in the days leading up to the Poway City Council race in November when Barry Leonard’s daughter and a friend decided to help the councilman by removing some of his opponents’ signs that the young women said they thought were illegally posted. They were caught by one of his nine opponents and admitted to removing signs of three candidates. In the end, it did not prevent Leonard from being elected along with incumbent Jim Cunningham.

Other election results caused little surprise. In June, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Councilman Mark Kersey were easily reelected. In November, the Chargers’ attempt to get voters to support a downtown stadium proposal — along with another stadium-related proposal put on the ballot by others — were both soundly defeated. Polling in the weeks leading up to the general election predicted as much.

Also in November, former Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, a Democrat, easily won the election to replace Democrat Marty Block in the state Senate’s 39th District. It includes Rancho Bernardo.