Brian Maienschein and Heather Ferbert appear to be staying the course.
Neither the candidates for San Diego city attorney nor their campaigns see much of a change in the basic dynamics from the March primary to the November general election in of themes, issues and criticism — albeit now expanded and with considerable more volume.
There will be one major difference between then and now, however: Turnout. Less than 40 percent of the county’s ed voters cast ballots in March. It could be double or more in November. That’s a lot of voters who have yet to cast a ballot for city attorney this year.
Maienschein, an Assembly member and former San Diego City Council member, thinks that’s his ace in the hole.
For his sake, it had better be. Ferbert, the chief deputy city attorney, easily and surprisingly outdistanced Maienschein in the primary by 6.32 percent.
Maienschein was considered the clear favorite, with better name identification, more money, higher-profile endorsements, and big labor and business backing. Ferbert had in those areas, but less so. Nevertheless, she obviously was more than competitive, and her backing has grown.
But the fall election will be played on a bigger field and Maienschein suggests the resources of the local Democratic Party, the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Police Officers Association — all of which have endorsed him — among others will push him across the finish line ahead of Ferbert.
“I think those will matter a lot in the general election,” he said. “… Now we’re getting to where voters are paying attention.”
How intense their will be remains to be seen, given Maienschein’s lackluster performance in March and whether his election is a top priority.
Ferbert and Maienschein were the only two city attorney candidates on the March ballot, so both had an automatic to November. The primary may have seemed perfunctory, but it mattered. Had Ferbert finished second, most everyone would have thought a Maienschein win in November was a forgone conclusion.
Now Ferbert appears to have momentum.
Her campaign notes she has outraised Maienschein in recent reporting periods and has added more endorsements, including Council Jennifer Campbell and Kent Lee and former Rep. Susan Davis. All that along with her other backing highlights that Ferbert has more within San Diego’s political, legal, business and labor communities than she did previously.
But focusing on money and institutional , while important, may miss the broader structural aspect of the race, which hasn’t changed.
The title “chief deputy city attorney” can be an inestimable political asset when running to be the city’s top legal officer. That title helped Ferbert’s boss, Mara Elliott, defeat favored, better-funded candidates in her first election for city attorney in 2016.
Dan Rottenstreich, Ferbert’s campaign consultant, said the higher turnout would be “the main challenge for her and for both candidates. There are a lot more voters to educate.”
For now, it seems the messages will be familiar to primary voters.
“We feel very confident,” he added, “if we give voters a simple choice.”
That choice, he continued, essentially is a “San Diego lawyer versus a Sacramento politician. A qualified lawyer versus someone who’s unqualified.”
Maienschein holds Ferbert at least partially responsible for “chaos” and “dysfunction” at City Hall, contending the City Attorney’s Office has been antagonistic toward some council and has not served the city well.
“She’s going to have to answer for her actions and inactions in office,” he said, particularly for “horrible, shady land deals.”
That could be a tough needle to thread. Among Maienschein’s high-profile endorsers is Mayor Todd Gloria and City Council who have participated in some of those transactions, particularly the city’s infamous takeover and purchase of the useless 101 Ash St. office tower.
What role Ferbert had in those certainly is a legitimate campaign issue. Her campaign said she was not involved in the Ash Street transaction. Regardless, in addition to the above decision-makers, and former Mayor Kevin Faulconer before them, two city attorneys would have had a hand in any of those transactions ahead of Ferbert.
(This paragraph has been updated regarding Ferbert’s role in Ash Street.)
Ferbert continues to point out that Maienschein hasn’t been a practicing attorney for two decades. Maybe that’s not essential to be a good city attorney, but Maienschein is forced to explain why.
Not a lot of voters know about the ins and outs of the job, which may be why the title of chief deputy city attorney is beneficial. People get a quick sense of Ferbert’s role, whether they think she’s up to the job or not.
“My experience is a lot broader and deeper,” Maienschein said, noting he has chaired the Assembly Judiciary Committee and teaches courses at the University of San Diego School of Law. “I’ve practiced the law, I’ve taught the law and I’ve ed laws.”
Ferbert’s campaign emphasizes Maienschein’s voting record from when he was a Republican. He became a Democrat in 2019. Before then, he had far from irable ratings from a Democratic point of view on such things as reproductive rights and gun control. That was then.
Much has changed. For example, he is now endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest.
Meanwhile, the question of whether Maienschein will accept his city pension while earning the city attorney’s annual salary of nearly $240,000 if elected was raised by Greg Moran of inewsource. Maienschein is collecting his city pension as he earns his $130,000 annual Assembly salary.
With a pension scandal hovering over San Diego’s past, taking both retirement pay and salary in the city has long been controversial and officials ended some programs to stop the practice. The Ferbert campaign promises to keep that fire burning.
Maienschein refuses to say whether he would accept both at City Hall. “I’m not going to engage in that,” he told me.
But he also pointed out that Ferbert, if elected, would get to build her pension even further because of the higher salary. But that wouldn’t involve “double dipping,” which had become a politically toxic notion in San Diego politics.
Much like the primary, that’s how the general election campaign is shaping up.
The spoils may go to the candidate who can best “educate” the additional voters on these competing themes.
