Updated March 6
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – In the wide-open race for the U.S. Senate, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank will face Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey, mostly on the strength of Schiff’s television advertisements giving name recognition to Garvey in a successful ploy to defeat his Democratic rivals and fellow members of Congress, Katie Porter of Irvine and Barbara Lee of Oakland.
Semi-official returns showed Garvey ahead in the race to fill the last few weeks of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein‘s unexpired term and Schiff ahead for the full term starting in January 2025. The statewide tallies for the unexpired term were Garvey 34.6 percent; Schiff 30.8 percent; Porter 16 percent; and Lee 9.3 percent. For the full term, the percentages were Schiff 33.2 percent, Garvey 32.4 percent, Porter 13.8 percent, and Lee 7.4 percent. Currently, Laphonza Butler has been serving in the Senate on an interim basis, following her appointment by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
During debates with his rivals, Schiff, who is Jewish, supported Israel’s military campaign to eliminate Hamas’ rule and military capacity in Gaza, while Lee called for an immediate ceasefire, and Porter took a middle position. Garvey said flatly he was with Israel “yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” During his victory speech Tuesday night, March 5, some protesters interrupted him, calling for a ceasefire now. He responded: ““We are so lucky, so lucky to live in a democracy where we all have the right to protest.”
President Joe Biden, who had only token opposition in California, received 89.4 percent of the vote, compared to 3.4 percent for author Marianne Williamson and 2.9 percent for Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minnesota). Williamson and Dean are both Jewish. Williamson’s 1992 book, A Return to Love, was a best seller was a best seller and she has written 14 books since. Phillips is the adopted son of Eddie Phillips, whose mother Pauline Phillips, writes the Dear Abby advice column.
In San Diego County races, Sara Jacobs, a Jewish Democratic incumbent in the 51st Congressional District, received 56.28 percent of the vote in early tabulations, and will face El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, a Republican who received 40.09 percent.
Wells has described himself as stronger for Israel than Jacobs, whom he calls a “radical who aligns herself with the Squad,” referring to the leaders of the Progressive Caucus among House Democrats.
Jacobs is the daughter of Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs, who chaired the Jewish Federation of San Diego’s emergency fund for Israel after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that left 1,200 Israelis dead and approximately 240 taken hostage. She also is the granddaughter of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs and his wife, Joan, well-known philanthropists in San Diego County, who support numerous Jewish causes.
The congresswoman has been dating Ammar Campa-Najjar, whose grandfather Muhammad Youssef Al-Najjar was assassinated in 1973 on suspicion of planning the massacre of 11 Israeli Olympics athletes and coaches. Campa-Najjar, who converted from Islam to Christianity, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2018 against Republican Duncan D. Hunter who had been indicted for campaign fund irregularities, and in 2020 against former Republican Rep. Darrell Issa. In 2022, Campa-Najjar ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Chula Vista, losing to City Councilman John McCann by a margin of 52 percent to Campa-Najjar’s 48 percent.
Candidates for the County Board of Supervisors were not on the primary ballot because there were only two in each race, so they will advance automatically to the November 5 general election.
In Supervisorial District 2, incumbent Joel Anderson, a Republican, will be opposed by Gina Jacobs, a Jewish Democrat. In Supervisorial District 3, Jewish incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer, a Democrat, will be opposed by former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican.
Lawson-Remer stirred some controversy within the Jewish community when she voted to reappoint Taha Hassane to the County’s Human Relations Commission after Hassane, the imam of the Islamic Center of San Diego, said in a sermon that the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas was justified by what he described as years of oppression.
The day after the vote, Lawson-Remer recanted, saying she wasn’t aware of Hasane’s comments at the time, but had she known, she would have opposed his continuation on the commission. Subsequently, the Board of Supervisors suspended the work of the entire commission until it can be restructured.
In the District 9 election for the San Diego City Council, semi-official returns showed that the Council’s Jewish president, Sean Elo-Rivera, will be opposed in November by Terry Hoskins, a retired Marine and San Diego Police officer. Elo-Rivera had 47.95 percent of the vote, while Hoskins had 33.67 percent.
Percentages shown in the semi-official returns may change as election officials count ballots that were mailed within the election period but are received afterwards, and provisional ballots about which questions need to be adjudicated.
*
Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com