A happy Jen Campbell election night, Nov.8. Cropped photo from Voice of San Diego
Editordude: Here Scott Lewis reminds all of us of how during the Primary, Campbell and her allies came up with a plan to ensure she only had a Republican to run against in the General Election by helping that Republican, Linda Lukacs, knock out Campbell’s chief Democratic rival, Lori Saldana. Mailers tied to Mayor Gloria flooded District 2 mailboxes spreading lies about Saldana. And it worked. Read Lewis’ very interesting theory about why the San Diego establishment backed Campbell.
By Scott Lewis / Voice of San Diego / Nov. 10, 2022
When the Union-Tribune editorial board endorsed Linda Lukacs in her race to oust City Councilwoman Jen Campbell, it offered a strange logic.
Campbell, the paper said, had laudable positions: She had resolved the long, torturous dilemma about how to regulate vacation rentals and she supported major investments in housing and development in the Midway area. In contrast, the paper wrote, Lukacs had “disappointing” views on housing and “seemed too inclined to Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) thinking.”
But ultimately, none of that mattered and the U-T endorsed Lukacs. Why? Campbell had refused to debate her challengers all but once. Her constituents see her as not responsive (seems accurate to me). And, her worst sin? She didn’t do an interview with the editorial board.
Yet Campbell woke up Wednesday morning a comfortable 10 percentage points ahead of Lukacs in the latest vote counts. She will win re-election without ever having to face tough questions and her opponent. Her and her consultants and the independent groups that spent sizably on her behalf ran an audacious campaign based on the simple theory that the best way for her to win was to face a Republican that they could tie to former President Donald Trump. They helped Republican, Lukacs, defeat two Democrats in the primary. She did and then they executed the final part of their plan and delivered Campbell another four years.
But the audacity of Campbell is more interesting than just how she engineered her re-election. All the things the U-T and the labor unions and the business community and others like about what she accomplished came not despite her lack of connection to her community, her unwillingness to engage her constituents. Those achievements came because of her unresponsiveness to the community.
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