4 of 8 Districts Will Elect City Council Members Today

Voters in half of San Diego’s eight council districts will go to the polls today to elect four council members in races that will help to set the political and legislative agenda at City Hall for the next two years.

Incumbents--Councilmen Ron Roberts, Wes Pratt, Bruce Henderson and Bob Filner--are seeking reelection to second four-year terms in each of the even-numbered districts where council seats are being contested.

Most, and perhaps all, of the four district-only contests may be decided if the victor receives the simple majority needed to avoid a November runoff. If no candidate surpasses the 50% threshold, the top two vote-getters will compete in another district-only race Nov. 5.

Pratt faces only one opponent in his 4th District race, making a conclusive outcome a statistical certainty, while Henderson’s 6th District contest features only one challenger on the ballot and a write-in candidate. Roberts and Filner, meanwhile, each face one major challenger and a long shot in their 2nd and 8th District races, respectively.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters uncertain of where to vote or who experience other Election Day problems can contact the San Diego County registrar of voters office at 565-5800 for assistance.

In the 2nd District, Roberts faces former City Hall aide Richard Grosch and magician and frequent candidate Loch David Crane.

The 4th District race between Pratt and the Rev. George Stevens is a rematch of their 1987 contest, in which Stevens won the district-only primary but lost to Pratt in the citywide runoff then used in the city’s two-tiered election system. The following year, San Diego voters approved an initiative creating district-only council elections.

In the 6th District, Henderson is being challenged by Valerie Stallings, a Salk Institute researcher, and write-in candidate and City Hall gadfly Don Stillwell.

In the 8th District, Filner faces Andrea Skorepa, executive director of Casa Familiar, a San Ysidro social services agency, and South Bay activist Lincoln Pickard.