San Diego’s First Mayoral Race between two Democrats
Todd Gloria and Barbara Bry have been making their case to San Diego for the past year, Nov. 3 will determine the future of the city, and their political careers
Tyler Pugmire / News Editor
As San Diegans begin to fill out their ballots, a historic race between two Democrats that strongly oppose one another is playing out: the mayoral race. Candidate Todd Gloria served as a City Councilmember from 2008 until 2016, when he decided to run for State Assembly and has since served there for the past four years. He also served as interim Mayor between 2013 and 2014. Barbara Bry is a more moderate Democrat who has been a City Councilmember since 2016. Bry is a current resident of La Jolla, and Gloria currently resides in Mission Hills. Incumbent mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, has hit his term limit and will hand over the keys to city hall after inauguration.
Todd Gloria is a native San Diegan and a University of San Diego alumni, where he received his bachelor’s degree in history and political science. He began his platform running on the issues of homelessness, housing affordability, and climate change, and has promised to develop a modern public transportation system.
Barbara Bry is from Philadelphia, and attended the University of Pennsylvania where she obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology, and also obtained a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University. Her campaign’s top priorities come in the form of keeping San Diego safe, clean, and prosperous, navigating the homelessness crisis, and expanding the tech industry in downtown San Diego, in order to bring jobs closer to those who live in the city.
In terms of endorsements, large names of the Democratic Party on a national scale, such as Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Diane Feinstein, and Governor Gavin Newsom all support Todd Gloria. Barbara Bry has the support of many local leaders such as Father Joe Carroll, City Councilmember Donna Frye, and Congressman Mike Levin.
On discussing how San Diego’s economy could bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic, Todd Gloria has presented a plan called “Back to Work SD,” a comprehensive initiative intended to rejuvenate the economy while keeping case numbers low.
“We recognize we cannot fully reopen our economy until our schools are open, and the city should be a full partner with our school district to make sure that our students and our teachers are safe,” Gloria said. “We spend about $500 million dollars on contracts to companies that are outside of San Diego … trying to bring those back to San Diego can help a lot of small businesses get back on their feet.”
Assemblymember Barbara Bry has emphasized that her plans as mayor will incorporate significant help given to small businesses.
“I’ve worked on a detailed roadmap to recovery with a group of small business owners, high tech and biotech entrepreneurs, and community leaders to address how we can grow our economy going forward,” Bry said. “It focuses on universal Internet access and growing high tech and biotech (industries) and creating good service sector jobs out of them.” She stressed that this will not only continue jobs for those in STEM, but marketers and those in the business world would also reap the benefits of her plan.
Housing is another salient issue for San Diegans. Bry has stated that she would reform the development services department by adapting commercial and office buildings as housing, which would be cheaper than building new houses. She would also enforce existing laws against short-term rentals and look to bring back 16,000 housing units to be available for both purchase and long-term rent. She would also continue updating community plans and develop a first time down payment assistance plan for first-time homeowners.
Gloria’s response to this issue would be to build more housing, specifically for the middle class. He said that along with the affordable housing trust fund, he would like to create a middle-income housing trust fund. He would also like to increase a permitting department that is committed to customer service. Lastly, he argued that San Diego needs to make better use of public land, and is trying to use the Sports Arena land for more housing that would drive down the costs of surrounding houses as well. He cited that communities such as North Park and Little Italy have become more affordable due to an increase in housing in their communities.
In regards to defunding the police, both Gloria and Bry do not believe in divesting from the police force. They both argue that the city should pay law enforcement more, in order to get the best quality of service. They also agree that police officers should not be the first responders to calls about mental health or homeless outreach.
When listing their most important issues facing the city, Councilmember Barbara Bry listed political transparency, recovery from COVID-19, and protecting San Diego’s neighborhoods. Assemblymember Todd Gloria has prioritized protecting the health and well being of San Diegans while making economic strides during COVID-19, homelessness and housing affordability, and fixing the city’s infrastructure.
Both candidates also claim that they will make major strides towards addressing climate change. Todd Gloria created the Climate Action Plan while he was serving as Interim Mayor in 2013, which aims to cut Greenhouse Gas emissions in the city to zero by 2035.
“I was the mayor who created the Climate Action Plan, I am going to be the mayor that implements and enforces the Climate Action Plan,” said Gloria.
Bry believes that the Climate Action Plan needs to be updated and improved, and claimed that she would cut emissions down to zero by 2030. Both candidates are looking to be at the forefront of the fight against climate change as mayor of the eighth-largest city in America.
Todd Gloria and Barbara Bry have both made their claims as to why USD students should vote for them. Gloria specifically mentioned that housing is simply too expensive for students coming out of college, and he is working to improve those conditions so that the investment that the city has put into San Diego’s universities can be returned by those that are handed the diploma on graduation day.
Assemblymember Bry is attempting to get the student vote by creating an economy where students will be able to get good jobs. She also has a housing plan that aims to strike down costs and also wants to create a major tech and biotech employment center downtown, as well as a biopharmaceutical center in Otay Mesa.
Even though both candidates are Democrats, they represent vastly different demographics. Todd Gloria is seen as a progressive Democrat, while Bry tends to be closer to the middle of the political spectrum, and has the support of many Republicans in the San Diego area. While the Republican Party is not legally allowed to endorse a candidate from the other party, they have issued a “caution” on Todd Gloria. Regardless of the outcome, it is almost certain that a Democrat will be in office by February 2021.