7 to Take On 4 City Council Incumbents

Eleven candidates, including all four incumbents, filed nominating petitions Friday for the four San Diego City Council seats that will be on the September primary ballot.

At least one of the four council contests is all but certain to conclude in September with the 50%-plus victory margin needed to avoid a November runoff, and the three other races could end in the primary as well. If there is no need for a runoff, the city would save about $450,000, the estimated cost of ballots and polling places for November.

In the 6th District, Councilman Bruce Henderson faces a single opponent, Pacific Beach activist Valerie Stallings, meaning that the primary victor is virtually assured of an outright victory. Only a strong showing by a write-in candidate--a scenario both politically and mathematically unlikely--could force a runoff in Henderson’s bid for a second four-year term.

Like Henderson, the three other council incumbents on the ballot--Ron Roberts, Wes Pratt and Bob Filner--are seeking second terms.

In the 2nd District, Roberts will be opposed by former City Hall aide Richard Grosch and Loch David Crane, a magician and frequent long-shot candidate. On Friday, Crane, who often weaves his magic act into his standard stump speeches, enlivened the normally uneventful candidacy-filing procedure at the city clerk’s office by showing off a wallet from which flames shot out.

The 4th District contest involves a showdown between Pratt and the candidate he defeated in 1987, the Rev. George Stevens. Political unknown Frances McCrary also submitted candidacy petitions, but her presence on the Sept. 17 primary ballot appears problematical.

To qualify for the ballot, candidates must submit at least 200 valid signatures of registered voters from their respective districts. McCrary, however, submitted a total of only 200 names, meaning that a single invalid signature could disqualify her.

Candidates typically submit dozens of extra signatures as a buffer against names stricken from their list by the city clerk’s office--which will verify the petitions next week--because they came from people not registered to vote or who do not live in the district.

If McCrary does not qualify for the race, the primary also is likely to be conclusive in the Pratt-Stevens race.

In the 8th District, Filner faces longtime San Ysidro community leader Andrea Skorepa and South Bay activist Lincoln Pickard.