Politics Report: Issa Hangs It Up

After voters approved a dramatic redrawing of his district in November, Rep. Darrell Issa confidently asserted he would be able to win the seat again even with a more Democratic friendly constituency. Then he openly flirted with an invitation to move to Texas and run in a congressional seat there. But again he decided to run for re-election and, again, he insisted he would win.

Last week, he again said he would run for re-election.

But as the deadline to file came and went Friday, Issa had not turned in his papers. Within an hour, he put out a statement saying he wanted simply to do something else with his time. He would no longer run for Congress.

The news started here: Thursday, Armen Kurdian, a retired Navy officer who had been running for state Senate with the Republican Party’s endorsement, surprisingly withdrew from that race and filed to run for the 49th Congressional District. That had been the seat County Supervisor Jim Desmond was seeking. Kurdian wouldn’t decide to do that without Desmond’s consent. So we knew something was up.

Then Friday, Desmond officially withdrew from the race to unseat Rep. Mike Levin in the 49th. Desmond, similarly, wouldn’t have done that without Issa’s support. And sure enough, late Friday, Issa dropped out and enthusiastically endorsed Desmond.

DeMaio not doing it: Once Desmond officially switched from running in one district to Issa’s, it was clear Issa was out. Desmond would not primary Issa. So, then the question was only whether Assemblymember Carl DeMaio would jump in as well.

He decided against it.

“Leading the fight to pass the game-changing California Voter ID initiative this November is far more important to Carl DeMaio than pursuing a seat in Congress,” wrote DeMaio’s communications director, Dylan Martin.

Issa’s statement: He endorsed Desmond, calling him a personal friend and “true patriot.” Issa insisted he had all the infrastructure and support needed to win the race. And he would win it.

“But after a quarter-century in Congress – and before that, a quarter-century in business – it’s the right time for a new chapter and new challenges,” Issa wrote.

Desmond seemed happy he could run in the district that was more familiar.

“They drew me into the district, but the truth is, I’ve been serving this community for years,” Desmond said in a written statement. “I was the Mayor of San Marcos. I raised my family here. I know what’s keeping families up at night: the cost of living, public safety, and a government that too often gets in the way instead of getting things done.”

What’s it mean: Desmond is probably a better candidate than Issa. He’s not as tied to Trump. He has a connection to the district. And the national Republican Party will want desperately for him to hold the seat for them. The resources should come.

Ammar Campa-Najjar, one of the prominent Democrats running, claimed he was the strongest candidate in the field. “As a Navy officer and longtime fighter for this district, I’m ready to complete the mission and flip this seat for Democrats,” he said in a statement.

Marni von Wilpert, the San Diego City Councilmember running was also not shedding tears for Issa.

“I’ve beaten Republicans, the NRA gun lobby, and opioid drug companies — and I’m ready to beat whatever handpicked Trump puppet the GOP throws at me.”

Interesting: There remained confusion Friday about whether Issa’s dropping out meant that the time to file to run in the seat would be extended. Normally, an extension happens to prevent the kind of monkey business we saw in Montana where an incumbent dropped out at the last minute and his friend got in.

But voters approved a redrawing of the district and so it was unclear whether Issa was the incumbent of that district. Local officials were asking for guidance from the state.

Flood Case Looks Good for Survivors, Bad for City

Last month, what may have seemed like a small news item dropped: The city would pay $6.3 million to insurance companies, related to the Jan. 22, 2024, floods. 

That may not be small news at all. 

The city is reimbursing insurance companies for money the companies already paid out to survivors. That means, regardless of the details on the agreement, the city is, to some extent, owning the fault of the damages. 

And the lawsuits yet to be decided make the $6.3 million look like a very small amount of money indeed. 

More than 2,000 flood survivors are still involved in active litigation related to the floods — and there isn’t even a dollar amount on all their claims yet, said Domenic Martini, an attorney at Singleton Schrieber, a firm representing about 750 of the survivors. 

The amount is easily more than $100 million, Martini said. 

“The legal paperwork I’m sure [the city] signed says, ‘Hey, this is not an admission of fault.’ But practically speaking it’s them taking responsibility,” said Martini. “What we’re looking for next is for the city to settle with individual survivors.”

City officials previously argued they were not at fault for the Jan. 22 floods which ravaged some parts of southeastern San Diego. They called the event a thousand-year flood and said it had nothing to do with city infrastructure or response.

Flood survivors do not believe this. Many flood channels were overgrown with entire ecosystems of vegetation, including 20-foot-tall trees, at the time of the floods. If the flood channels had been properly maintained by the city, as many residents requested prior to the floods, the effects would have been far less devastating, the survivors argue. 

The payment to insurers is the first indication that the city’s argument won’t hold up in court. 

Needless to say, the city is in dire budget times. It will face a $110-million budget deficit in the coming months that may require lay offs — and will certainly require difficult decisions. At the same time, it’s embarking on mediation with the flood survivors.  

City leaders could certainly draw out the negotiations and the lawsuit, essentially kicking the budget dilemma of settling with flood survivors to future elected leaders. 

This would enrage the survivors, who are already pissed the city found a way to settle with insurance companies before settling with them. 

If current city leaders choose to settle with survivors in the coming months, it could massively complicate a budget puzzle that is already breaking their brains.

Notes

Things looking up for countywide sales tax: The Laborers union made it known this week that they would be punting their proposed sales tax increase initiative for the city of San Diego to the 2028 ballot. That is one less worry for the supporters of a countywide half-cent sales tax increase, who are feeling very confident about getting their measure on the ballot.

“The San Diegans for Health and Safety coalition has signature gatherers out every day throughout the county, and we are getting a great response from the community. With more than 40,000 signatures already collected, we’re on track to qualify for the November 2026 ballot and give voters the chance to stop Tijuana River sewage, protect healthcare and childcare for working families, and strengthen 911 response,” said Crystal Irving, president SEIU 22, in a written statement.

They’ve also apparently are close to hitting their $1.3 million fundraising goal to pay for the signature campaign.

On the tax: The Politics Report called Kyle Krahel, the former chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party, to verify he was still running for the seat Desmond is vacating on the Board of Supervisors. He is and he had a poll showing he has an edge over the two Republicans running, Vista Mayor John Franklin and San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones.

Krahel said he’s most focused on cost of living and he’s not sure about the tax increase.

“At the county, we’re facing a massive fiscal cliff because of the Trump Administration and Republicans cutting off funding for basic services the county provides. But we need to explore other opportunities to find sources of revenue that don’t require cost increases on normal everyday San Diegans,” Krahel said.

“We have a bloated old school bureaucracy at the county. There are a lot of people there doing good work but the five supervisors were there for a long time and the staff has the same approach now as it did back then. We need to modernize the bureaucracy. It may not solve the budget hole but we need to go through that,” he said.

Governor’s race: San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is in town this weekend. He’s being hosted by Sen. Catherine Blakespear at one event. Housing nerds are buzzing about Mahan’s plans.

Assemblymember Chris Ward has thrown his support behind Tom Steyer. He’s into the promises on energy in particular: “Tom uniquely adds important emphasis and working knowledge on a key issue the next Governor can control: reforming the Public Utilities Commission (the five commissioners are all appointed by the Governor) and bringing out meaningful utility rate reforms in a climate-focused approach that will bring new investments in green energy, encourage public power, and reduce energy rates for all of us struggling,” Ward wrote in a letter to supporters.

This isn’t really local but it sure was interesting: Kevin Kiley, a member of Congress from the Sacramento area, a Republican, was facing a big decision of where to run. His district got chopped up by Proposition 50 and it was unclear if he’d run and in which district. He picked the 6th District. But Friday, he announced he was re-registering as a no-party-preference voter to keep “Republican” off the ballot.

His statement: “It is no secret I’ve been frustrated, at times disgusted, by the hyper-partisanship in Congress. In the last year it’s led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, a massive increase in healthcare costs, and of course, a pointless redistricting war. The epidemic of gerrymandering has spread from Texas to California to states all across the country. Both parties are complicit.”

But it may not matter: What matters to a lot of people nationwide is who he would vote for as speaker of the House of Representatives. “A Kiley spokesperson told Axios it is ‘not official yet’ whether he will leave the party or the conference now.”

If you have any feedback or ideas for the Politics Report, send them to scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org or will.huntsberry@voiceofsandiego.org.

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