Chula Vista City Councilman John McCann will compete in the November runoff election against congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najjar to become Chula Vista Mayor.
McCann, a Republican running in the non-partisan race, is leading the unofficial June 7 primary election results at 31.4 percent. Campa-Najjar, a Democrat, was in second place, at 21.9 percent, though the ballots are still being counted.
The San Diego County Registrar’s office released Wednesday morning the results of 416,748 ballots cast, 44,165 vote center ballots, and 372,583 mailed ballots. There are more than 1.9 million registered voters in Diego County, projecting a 21.5 percent voter turnout in this round of unofficial election results.
Officials say there are 250,000 outstanding ballots projected, though the exact number of votes that need to be tallied in remains unclear.
The most recent updated projection shows Najjar held a 460 vote lead over fellow candidate Jill Galvez.
McCann is a city councilman for Chula Vista and deputy mayor with endorsements by the city's Police Officers Association. He aims to increase public safety in the city and to make Chula Vista an attractive environment for business.
Campa-Najjar served in various roles within President Barack Obama's administration, including a public relations position in the Employment & Training Administration. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in East County, once in 2018 against Rep. Duncan Hunter and again in 2020 against current Rep. Darrell Issa.
His priorities include the Bayfront development in west Chula Vista and bringing a four-year university to east Chula Vista. Chula Vista Firefighters endorsed his campaign among several local unions.
Galvez serves as a city councilwoman representing northwest Chula Vista and served as deputy mayor in 2020. She has served on the Board of Directors for MTS and the Metropolitan Wastewater Joint Powers Authority.
Galvez's campaign highlighted priorities that include increased public safety, speeding up progress on city issues, and ending the toll on State Route 125. She was endorsed by the San Diego Union- Tribune's editorial board.
McCann, Campa-Najjar, and Galvez ran against three other candidates, including Zaneta Encarnacion, Spenser Cash, and Rudy Ramirez. The mayoral candidates sought to fill the role soon to be vacated by Chula Vista’s first Latina Mayor, Mary Casillas Salas.
The San Diego County Registrar expects to provide another update on June 9 by 5 p.m.
