The former Democrat assembly member for the state of California Lori Saldaña is officially running for mayor of San Diego, along with almost 30 other candidates although they all need at least 200 signatures before they are certified as candidates, but only a few of them are actually considered to be contenders in the special election that will take place on November 19th.

All of them however, are fully aware of the importance of the Latin vote.

Kevin Faulconer, the main candidate for the Republican party, announced his candidacy both in English and Spanish, unfortunately with mixed results, while Nathan Fletcher, former Republican and now Democrat, received the support of several important Latin politicians in the region last Thursday, among them Congressman Juan Vargas and Assembly member Lorena Gonzalez.

But it will not be easy for either of them to fully win the Latin vote, given that there will also be 3 candidates with Latin or Hispanic heritage in the campaigns. On Friday council member David Alvarez of the 8th District of San Diego joined the race, being the youngest member of the city council and political apprentice to democrat congresswoman, Susan Davis.

Lori Saldaña isn't far behind either, as she joined the race as well as a possible Candidate for the Democratic party. If she gets the 200 signatures necessary (which she probably will), she will become the only female candidate among the primary contenders.

Besides Saldaña and Alvarez, Mike Aguirre, the former city Attorney for the city of San Diego has also shown interest in running for mayor, and will also be actively seeking the Latin vote.

In general, the Latin vote is very tied to the Democratic vote in San Diego, and both of them are currently divided, unlike the Republican party, which has managed to almost instantly rally behind Faulconer.

Democrats have the upper hand when it comes to registered voters, given that they represent over 40% of the ballot, in comparison to the 26% that the Republicans currently hold, and 27% that doesn't seem to be swayed either way. This helped Bob Filner become the first Democratic Mayor of San Diego in over 20 years.

But the special elections are not the same as ordinary elections, and very different from the national presidential elections, which is why according to experts it is expected that the democratic and Latin voters will be much harder to motivate to post their vote on November 19th, giving the Republican party much better odds of winning the elections, that is if Democrats and Latins don't manage to unify as soon as possible.

Jose.Sanchez@sandiegored.com

Daniel.Aguilar@sandiegored.com