Golding Versus Navarro Race Is Likely to Be Costliest S.D. Campaign for Mayor

In what could become the costliest mayoral election in San Diego history, candidates Peter Navarro and Susan Golding are closing in on the $1-million mark as their Nov. 3 runoff enters its final month, campaign finance reports filed Monday show.

Golding has heavily outspent Navarro since her second-place finish behind him in the June primary, the reports show. Together they spent $932,826 as of Sept. 30 in a race whose price tag, including primary candidates, is likely to approach $2 million.

If Golding and Navarro continue spending at their present pace, this year’s contest almost certainly will eclipse the $1.7 million spent in the 1983 mayoral race won by Roger Hedgecock, the most expensive City Hall election ever.

Golding had spent $501,269, compared to $431,557 for Navarro as of last week, according to financial reports filed with the city clerk’s office.

Those figures include funds spent in the primary, masking a considerably wider spending edge for Golding during the runoff phase of their race to succeed retiring Mayor Maureen O’Connor.

Since July 1, Golding has raised $258,289 and spent $189,674, more than double Navarro’s spending total of $94,037 during the same three-month period.

To remain financially competitive with Golding, who has received sizable donations from developers, Navarro has relied on personal funds, the reports show. Slightly more than half of the money that Navarro has spent to date--$222,847--has come through a personal loan that he made to his own campaign. Golding has not loaned any money to her campaign, according to the disclosure statements.

Combined with the amounts spent by two losing candidates--San Diego City Councilman Ron Roberts and businessman Tom Carter--in the June primary, this year’s mayoral race appears destined to surpass the 1983 Hedgecock-O’Connor election.

Roberts raised $339,957 in his primary campaign and Carter $242,891, lifting the 1992 race’s price tag to $1.52 million so far.

If Golding and Navarro together spend at least $200,000 during the race’s final month, their campaign will surpass the 1983 contest as the most expensive mayoral race ever in San Diego.