​County Supervisor Election: Vaus Lead Shrinks To 715 Votes

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — Poway Mayor Steve Vaus' lead shrank to just 715 votes Friday over his opponent, fellow Republican and former state lawmaker Joel Anderson as the two vie for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors District 2 seat.

Vaus holds a 50.14% lead to Anderson's 49.86% after the latter gained 199 votes since Thursday's election update. More than 205,000 votes are left to be counted in the county, Registrar of Voters Michael Vu estimates, so this race could easily break for either candidate.

However, ballots have steadily chipped away at Vaus' lead since election night. The next update will come at or after 5 p.m. Saturday.

District 2's termed-out Dianne Jacob, also a Republican, joined the Board of Supervisors in 1993. The district is home to the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Poway and Santee; and the San Diego communities of Allied Gardens, College Area, Del Cerro, Grantville, Navajo, Rolando and San Carlos.

It also covers East County's unincorporated communities of Alpine, Campo, Julian, Ramona, Rancho San Diego and Spring Valley. Anderson represented the East County in the Assembly from 2007 to 2009, and in the state Senate from 2010 to 2018.

A Grammy-winning recording artist, Vaus first served on the Poway City Council before winning the 2014 mayoral race. His leadership during the deadly 2019 shooting at a Poway synagogue received national attention.

In the District 3 race, challenger Terra Lawson-Remer — a Democrat who served as a senior adviser in the Obama administration — defeated incumbent Kristin Gaspar, a Republican elected in 2016.

Lawson-Remer currently leads in the race by around 47,000 votes — 58.57% of the vote to Gaspar's 41.43%. Gaspar made up around half a percent in the race to catch Lawson-Remer, but there are too few uncounted ballots left to make a difference.

The coastal/North County district includes a dozen neighborhoods within the city of San Diego, including Carmel Mountain Ranch, Mira Mesa and Rancho Penasquitos. It also includes the cities of Del Mar, Encinitas, Escondido and Solana Beach.

A former Encinitas mayor and City Council member, Gaspar is also a small business owner.

Lawson-Remer has never held public office, but was endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Scott Peters and county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher.

Gaspar has not publicly conceded.

Nora Vargas claimed victory Wednesday in her bid to replace Greg Cox as San Diego County Supervisor for District 1, and her margin continues to grow. She now holds a 55.73% to 44.27% lead over her opponent, state Sen. Ben Hueso — gaining around half a percent.

Vargas leads Hueso by nearly 23,000 votes and her lead has grown from election night.

Both Vargas and Hueso are Democrats. Hueso, a former San Diego City Council member, has represented Senate District 40 since 2013.

Vargas is a vice president of Planned Parenthood of the Southwest and also serves on the Southwest Community College board.

Cox, a Republican, has been in office since 1995, representing the district that includes National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado, along with 19 communities within the city of San Diego, including Barrio Logan and Sunset Cliffs. It also features the unincorporated communities of Bonita, East Otay Mesa, Lincoln Acres and Sunnyside.

— City News Service