Latino Lawyer Elected to San Diego City Council

Juan Carlos Vargas, a Harvard-educated lawyer, was elected Tuesday to the San Diego City Council, becoming the first Latino to be voted into the office without first being appointed by the historically Anglo-dominated council.

Vargas, who received 29% of the vote, broke from a pack of nine candidates competing to fill a vacancy in the district’s poorest and southernmost district.

The 31-year-old former Jesuit seminarian will succeed former Councilman Bob Filner, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November.

The city clerk’s office reported that Vargas received 2,420 votes, more than 500 votes ahead of his closest rival, attorney Michael Aguirre, who received 1,895 votes, or 23%.

About 600 absentee ballots were yet to be counted, officials said, but the count is not expected to change the outcome of the special election.

The election was hailed not only as a milestone for the city but for the low-income 8th District, which has a higher concentration of Latinos than any other council district. According to the 1990 census, 141,495 people live in the district, 61.5% of whom are Latino.

But the district--which stretches from the Mexican border to the Barrio Logan downtown--has suffered from low voter turnout, high turnover among elected officials and weak influence at City Hall.

“For the first time, we’re going to have a candidate who understands he has to run in the district,” said community activist Al Ducheny.

“You can’t just go downtown and get the Establishment support and get elected in the 8th District anymore.”

During the last 20 years, only two Latinos have served on the council. Both were appointees, and both were eventually ousted after criminal convictions.