Von Wilpert Claims Congressional Seat as County Measures Hang in the Balance
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Democrat Marni von Wilpert, a San Diego City Council member and former prosecutor, is being reported as the winner over Republican County Supervisor Jim Desmond in California's redrawn 48th Congressional District. If her lead holds through certification — and reporting from KPBS and others is treating it as a confirmed win — Democrats would sweep all five of San Diego County's congressional seats.
Desmond's loss carries significance beyond the seat itself. Though he was already terming out as a County Supervisor, the redrawn district was one Republicans had genuinely targeted as competitive. The result marks a notable outcome for county Democrats heading into 2027 redistricting conversations.
Less settled is the picture at the county level. Measures A and B — a charter overhaul and a half-cent sales tax, respectively — both strengthened their leads during Wednesday's counting, with Voice of San Diego's early Thursday report placing both at majority support and each leading by a substantial margin of votes. Explicitly, neither contest has been called; the outstanding ballot pool remains large enough to matter.
Measure A would allow county supervisors to serve three four-year terms instead of the current two, and would establish an independent ethics commission, an independent budget analyst, and a program auditor. Measure B is a half-cent sales tax intended to fund health care, child care, wildfire prevention, and the ongoing Tijuana River sewage crisis. The May vote to place Measure A on the ballot split 3–2, with Supervisors Aguirre, Lawson-Remer, and Montgomery Steppe in favor and Anderson and Desmond opposed.
On the Board of Supervisors races, San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones led Democrat Kyle Krahel by a commanding margin in the early vote in the District 5 seat being vacated by Desmond, while incumbent Monica Montgomery Steppe held a strong early lead in District 4 over former La Mesa Councilmember Kristine Alessio. If those leads hold, the board's current 3–2 partisan split would remain intact — the same coalition that sent Measure A to the ballot would stay in place. In San Diego City Council races, challenger Martha Abraham appeared to have defeated incumbent Henry Foster III in District 4, while Nicole Crosby, Antonio Martinez, and incumbent Kent Lee also held comfortable early leads. Richard Barrera, a long-serving San Diego Unified School Board member, led in early returns for California Superintendent of Public Instruction — a race also uncalled.