Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood has officially launched off his campaign for San Diego County Supervisor, going up against longtime conservative Bill Horn.

Wood filed the papers on July 15 with the California Secretary of State and were submitted to the County on July 30.

A former investigator for the Oceanside Police Department, Wood entered politics in 2002 as a city council member and then two years later assumed the mayorship where he has remained ever since.

He will face one of the County's more powerful politicians in Supervisor Bill Horn, who has held the District 5 Supervisor seat for nearly 20 years.

But Wood is no stranger to politics. During the past six years, he has faced staunch opposition from a staunchly conservative council majority. Two months ago members of that council majority, Gary Felien, Jack Feller, and Jerry Kern voted Wood off two regional boards, as reported by the Oceanside-Camp Pendleton Patch.

In addition to being a political underdog in his hometown, in recent years Wood has had to go up against a much stronger opponent; recovery from two major strokes. In 2011, the Mayor suffered his first while in Washington DC. One year later the second hit while on a trip to Japan.

Horn, however, does not have a flawless record by any means. Horn appeared in the news most recently after media outlets discovered he had collected more than $72,000 from the developer of a controversial housing project in North County.

And then, of course, were the false claims he made about protesting alongside former Martin Luther King Jr. confidante, Ralph Abernathy during the Civil Rights Movement. That claim was judged to be the "worst factual blunder" of 2012 by online news organization, Voice of San Diego.

Despite the negative publicity, Horn will be a tough incumbent to beat, especially in the category of fundraising.