Breaking News: Two Horse Race Between Aguirre and Goldsmith
Posted by: Barry Jantz | 04/11/2008 11:10 AM
This just in. The memo from John Nienstedt regarding a recent City Attorney race survey says it all in the headline: "It is looking more like a two-horse race between City Attorney Mike Aguirre and Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith."
Once again, the bottom line is simple. For those not happy with Aguirre, well, Scott Peters and Brian Maienschein are serving an opposite purpose, if they are not from an alternate universe.
Some excerpts:
Competitive Edge Research & Communication, Inc., conducted a poll on behalf of the Republican Party of San Diego County among 506 randomly selected likely June voters residing in the City of San Diego. The poll was fielded March 20-24 (excluding Easter Sunday). The data was appropriately weighted to reflect known parameters within the likely June electorate. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.4%.
The results demonstrate that San Diego Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith continues to be City Attorney Mike Aguirre's strongest challenger. The initial trial heat (asked before respondents heard any arguments for or against the candidates) shows that Goldsmith is ahead of Councilman Scott Peters by an 11% margin. The poll was conducted prior to a ruling on the validity of Peters' and Councilman Brian Maienschein's employment designations, so the questionnaire used those Council Members' preferred designations.Both Goldsmith and Aguirre have slightly improved their standing since late-February, while Peters' share of the vote dropped by 4%. Maienschein's support has remained in single digits.
On the "Which candidate would you vote for" question:
Mike Aguirre, San Diego City Attorney 27.8
Jan Goldsmith, San Diego Superior Court Judge 21.3
Scott Peters, Council President, Environmental Lawyer 10.3
Brian Maienschein, Councilmember, Business Attorney 8.5
Amy Lepine, Former Deputy City Attorney 2.8
Not voting (Not Read) 0.2
Unsure (Not Read) 29.1
See the survey results memo:
CityAttorneySurveyMemo041008-CONFIDENTIAL[1].pdf
So, is the party gonna talk Brian into stepping aside to free up donations for Jan or was this just a "FYI" type survey?
It is only a two person race if the candidates at the top are capable of getting their message out. I don't know where each of the candidates are with fundraising, but it will all come down to who can afford to get their message out. It will be Aguirre against one of the three, the question is which one? Who is going to go up on TV, radio, buy the most slates or do a absentee program?
It won't all come down to message, in this case. For the current councilmembers, message mixed with Kroll baggage means "whatever" about the message, especially if others are reminding the voters of the city's problems. That's why Peterschien has always been a non-starter.
I encourage everyone to do your homework on this election. It is critical. It is no secret that special interests have taken hold of this city. Goldsmith is a huge problem. Just go the the non-profit org Center for Policy Initiatives and look at where his money is coming from...developers and real estate interests and lots of them. We do not need more of that. That should be a red flag to red county and all citizens.
You should really have a clue before you start posting on a Republican website. The Center for Policy Initiatives is nothing more than a pro-labor front group.
I don't think too many Republicans are going to be convinced to vote for a candidate by the likes of labor goons who try to intimidate their membership and are opposed to open fair competition.