The 80th Assembly District contest is scheduled for a runoff in June, and former Councilman David Alvarez says he is feeling good in his pursuit of the district seat.
In the recent special election held last week on April 5, results concluded in a runoff to be held in June between David Alvarez and Georgette Gomez, with a result of 15,300 votes and 15,132 votes distributively.
With these voting results, the race ends up in a runoff scheduled for this summer to determine who fills the district seat for the remainder of the current term, all the way through the end of 2022.
David Alvarez met this week with some of his supporters, where he engaged in conversation in regards to his approach to June's runoff.
The 41-year-old San Diego native says he feels good in the position he's in right now in regards to his pursuit for the district seat, which is something that he says wouldn't be possible without the community members supporting him along the way.
Alvarez told Chula Vista Today that he's grateful to see the people in southbay San Diego react positively to the topics he's has been tackling since the start of his campaign, such as bringing a university to the southbay, after The California State University Board of Trustees rejected Chula Vista as a location for a new CSU campus nearly two years ago.
“I feel very good, people are responding well to our message focus on education, bringing a university to south San Diego, in particular located in Chula Vista." Alvarez said. "Voters really believe that focusing on those types of topics is a good idea, which is why I’ve spent my entire time in my campaign talking about those visions. So we were rewarded with enough votes to head to the June run-off as a result of that," he added.
Alvarez also says that the issue of crime is also at the top of his priorities.
In a crime statistics report released last month, the numbers showed that crimes in San Diego increased by 77 percent in hate crimes over the year 2020, a 25 percent spike in vehicle thefts, and an 18 percent increase in reports involving rape.
These numbers were instantly alarming to council members when the report was released, and it's a statistic spike that Alvarez describes as a "real issue".
"The issue of crime is a real issue, people want to feel safe, and people raising kids want to feel safe," Alvarez told Chula Vista Today. "So, we have to focus on bringing resources to our city to help support public safety," he added.
A community that will play a monumental part in June's runoff is the Filipino community of the 80th Assembly District, who have expressed major support for Alvarez since the start of his campaign.
One of those Filipino community members is JoAnn Fields, an active organizer in the Filipino community, who has devoted her life to uplifting her culture in the city of San Diego.
Fields describes the Filipino community as a "swing vote" in this runoff, as the 2nd largest ethnic community group in San Diego County following Latinos according to the U.S. Census.
The Pinay community leader says Alvarez could very well benefit by continuing to emphasize issues that matter to the Filipino community, such as the three topics that Fields describes in "waves".
"Agriculture, military and healthcare workers. Many Filipinos arrived in Chula Vista by way of U.S. Navy and nursing from the Philippines, when they came to the U.S. to fill the need of healthcare staff," Fields said.
"And In a tight election like the one David finds himself in, the Filipino community can very well be the swing vote to get him to the finish line. Currently, there is just over a 100 vote difference between David and his opponent," Fields added.
Alvarez told Chula Vista Today how important it is to him to gain support from the Filipino community, a community that he feels has been forgotten over the years, which is something he would like to see turn around.
"The Filipino community is a community that has been really neglected and forgotten, there is a rich culture in our community involving Filipinos, especially in the southbay of San Diego," said the former Councilman.
"Whether it’s the Filipino language or just acknowledging the history and the heritage of their community, like I did when we built Cesar Solis Park and named it after the highest-ranking Assistant Chief of Police in the San Diego Police Department when I was in City Council. We have to continue to find ways to acknowledge the importance of the Filipino community in our San Diego community at large," he added.
