A precinct-by-precinct analysis of November election results shows how the winning San Diego City Council candidates pulled off their victories in hard-fought races.
Three council members elected in November will take office Monday, along with Councilman-elect Carl DeMaio, who was elected in June. They will join four holdover council members.
In the city's north coastal District 1, Democrat Sherri Lightner carried her neighborhood of La Jolla, long expected to be a stronghold after her years of service on community boards there.
But the political newcomer also took the home turf of her Republican opponent, Phil Thalheimer, in Carmel Valley. It was also the neighborhood of her opponent in the primary, Marshall Merrifield.
Lightner's message of a stronger voice for neighborhoods clearly resonated along the coast, according to the precinct vote counts.
Marti Emerald
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Todd Gloria
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Sherri Lightner
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Thalheimer did best farther inland, where he has his deepest neighborhood roots. The Republican used to live in Rancho Peñasquitos, where he served on community boards.
Among precincts with 50 or more votes, Lightner did best in a La Jolla precinct with 85.37 percent of the vote and worst in one Rancho Peñasquitos precinct with 30.82 percent.
In District 3, winner Todd Gloria enjoyed widespread support across some of the city's oldest neighborhoods circling Balboa Park.
His hot spot was one City Heights precinct where he garnered 67.66 percent of votes.
Gloria's opponent, fellow Democrat Stephen Whitburn, won pockets of support across the district. He had the best luck in one South Park precinct where he received 59.35 percent of the ballots.
Political consultant Christopher Crotty said the District 3 results aren't surprising, given Whitburn's strategy of appealing to neighborhood groups.
“He got a community group here and a homeowners association there, and that was about it,” Crotty said.
In District 7, the results largely break down into two categories: north or south of Interstate 8.
Winner Marti Emerald expected to claim the reliable Democratic neighborhoods south of the freeway, and she did. She also took the streets around San Diego State University, where the student Democratic club campaigned on her behalf.
Emerald did best in one Rolando precinct with 74.37 percent of the vote and worst in one Navajo precinct with 34.32 percent of ballots.
Competitor April Boling, a Republican accountant, did the best on her home turf in San Carlos and adjacent neighborhoods.
Jeanette Steele: (619) 293-1030; jen.steele@uniontrib.com
