Republican Andrew Hayes was the favorite to win the 75th Assembly District race until fellow Republican Carl DeMaio jumped in just before the filing deadline. Since then, chaos has ensued. NBC 7’s political reporter Joey Safchik takes a closer look at this contentious race.
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It is not surprising to see two Republicans facing off in the GOP stronghold 75th Assembly District, which covers East County and portions of inland North County. However, the race has become a flashpoint, enough so that a politically diverse coalition has rallied behind one of the candidates from across party lines.
"This is a true statement. This is the most weird, unusual situation in my career since 1999 in San Diego politics,” Republican State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones said.
Jones joined Democratic Congressman Scott Peters, Republican County Supervisor Joel Anderson and leaders of local labor and police unions from across the political spectrum in calling on 75th Assembly District constituents to vote for Andrew Hayes.
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"I've never seen anything like it in in all my years here, three decades in San Diego,” said political analyst John Dadian. “It literally was everything from soup to nuts, had law enforcement, had firefighters, had liberals, had conservatives, had Republicans, Democrats.”
Hayes, the Lakeside School Board president, is running against former San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio. Hayes cinched the endorsement of the San Diego GOP.
“Like several other campaigns that are close, it's gotten pretty nasty because it's competitive, quite honestly,” Dadian said.
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“Absolutely no one in San Diego is surprised that a few career politicians and political party operatives got together [Wednesday] to attack Carl DeMaio with a bunch of last-minute false attacks because he has fought these same politicians’ tax-raising schemes for years and they are worried he will upset the Sacramento status quo,” said DeMaio campaign spokesperson Jen Jacobs in a statement.
The race also made headlines earlier this month, when questions arose about DeMaio's residency, and earlier this year, when figuring out who to endorse led to a shake up within the leadership ranks within the San Diego GOP.
