San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones held a commanding lead in the race for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors' District 5 seat Tuesday evening, according to preliminary results from the county Registrar of Voters.
Jones had 41% of the vote, followed by Kyle Krahel, a Democratic Party official, with 20.3%, and Vista Mayor John Franklin with 19.4%.
The two remaining candidates, tribal leader Norma Contreras and former public health professor Sasha Miller, received 10.79% and 7.93%, respectively. Write-in candidates accounted for 0.32% of the vote, according to the county.
The top two finishers in Tuesday's primary will advance to the Nov. 3 general election, with the winner succeeding Supervisor Jim Desmond.
Desmond, a Republican who is termed out of the Board of Supervisors, is running for the 48th Congressional District seat and was leading that race Tuesday night with nearly 46% of the vote.
Jones, who has served as San Marcos mayor since December 2018, grew up in El Cajon and Ramona. In an email, she identified public safety and quality of life, housing affordability and government accountability as her top priorities.
She was first appointed to the San Marcos City Council in 2007 and served for a decade before seeking the mayor's office.
The county "needs steady, competent leadership that can navigate challenges in a balanced and productive way," Jones wrote.
Jones said that during her tenure, San Marcos "achieved the lowest crime rate in our city's 63-year history, ranked among the top 15 safest cities in California, and became one of America's safest college towns."
San Marcos also "became the only city in the region reporting a major reduction in homelessness -- down 76% -- by combining enforcement with real support services," Jones added. "We banned street encampments while investing in shelter partnerships and mental health support."
An Oceanside native, Krahel told City News Service that if elected, he'll focus on "affordability, housing and making sure North County get its fair share of funding."
North County has had the highest amount of housing growth over the last decade, and needs the necessary infrastructure.
Krahel said he wants more homes built, but acknowledged that's also "a simple thing to say, but it's more complex than that."
One solution is to update county zoning ordinances to increase suitable housing projects, he said. In turn, more housing will ease the homeless crisis, said Krahel, who also wants more behavioral health outreach and shelters.
Krahel said his time as deputy chief of staff for Rep. Mike Levin, D- San Juan Capistrano, allows him to better identify more funding sources.
He said he helped procure $1 million for Oceanside's first permanent homeless shelter. Krahel, who earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University in government, said he has a good relationship with Desmond, along with his colleagues Paloma Aguirre, Terra-Lawson Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe.
(Photo: Courtesy)