Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Nathan Fletcher makes a comeback

Old Irwin’s network

Nathan Fletcher (and political backer Irwin Jacobs)...setting up for a political office comeback?
Nathan Fletcher (and political backer Irwin Jacobs)...setting up for a political office comeback?

Republican-turned-Democrat Nathan Fletcher, a favorite of SDSU’s KPBS public broadcasting outfit — whose gadget-filled “newsroom of the future” was paid for with $2.9 million from La Jolla billionaire and Fletcher backer Irwin Jacobs — is making a comeback of sorts on San Diego’s rubber-chicken circuit.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Fletcher lost two races for mayor, the last in 2013 after a significant bashing from the then–U-T San Diego and its publisher Douglas Manchester. Ever since the GOP kingpin flipped the paper to Chicago-based Tribune in May, there’s been speculation that the flagging news operation would ultimately end up in the hands of Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad, a longtime friend and political ally of Jacobs.

Such a move could enable yet another Fletcher comeback try, and the self-styled war hero has of late been raising his political profile, appearing with president Barack Obama at the White House to endorse the Iran nuclear deal, backing city council candidates, showing up for KPBS interviews, and dating Assembly Democrat Lorena Gonzalez.

The threat is palpable enough that wealthy backers of incumbent GOP mayor Kevin Faulconer have reportedly been out polling about Fletcher’s popularity. His latest speaking engagement is set for November 14 at downtown’s Bristol Hotel, where he will keynote the Diplomacy Day dinner of the San Diego Diplomacy Council.

“Join us for a celebration of global citizenry in San Diego with an evening of international food and wine,” says the invitation, which adds that the event will “provide networking opportunities with local community leaders and politicians.”

After Fletcher was termed out of the state Assembly in 2012, he was named senior director for global strategic initiatives for Qualcomm, the giant chip-maker co-founded by Jacobs. As it happens, a key board member of the Diplomacy Council is another Jacobs loyalist, Qualcomm senior engineer Ram Rajagopalan.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

City Lights: Journey Through Light & Sound, Hotel Holiday Tea Service

Events December 7-December 11, 2024
Nathan Fletcher (and political backer Irwin Jacobs)...setting up for a political office comeback?
Nathan Fletcher (and political backer Irwin Jacobs)...setting up for a political office comeback?

Republican-turned-Democrat Nathan Fletcher, a favorite of SDSU’s KPBS public broadcasting outfit — whose gadget-filled “newsroom of the future” was paid for with $2.9 million from La Jolla billionaire and Fletcher backer Irwin Jacobs — is making a comeback of sorts on San Diego’s rubber-chicken circuit.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Fletcher lost two races for mayor, the last in 2013 after a significant bashing from the then–U-T San Diego and its publisher Douglas Manchester. Ever since the GOP kingpin flipped the paper to Chicago-based Tribune in May, there’s been speculation that the flagging news operation would ultimately end up in the hands of Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad, a longtime friend and political ally of Jacobs.

Such a move could enable yet another Fletcher comeback try, and the self-styled war hero has of late been raising his political profile, appearing with president Barack Obama at the White House to endorse the Iran nuclear deal, backing city council candidates, showing up for KPBS interviews, and dating Assembly Democrat Lorena Gonzalez.

The threat is palpable enough that wealthy backers of incumbent GOP mayor Kevin Faulconer have reportedly been out polling about Fletcher’s popularity. His latest speaking engagement is set for November 14 at downtown’s Bristol Hotel, where he will keynote the Diplomacy Day dinner of the San Diego Diplomacy Council.

“Join us for a celebration of global citizenry in San Diego with an evening of international food and wine,” says the invitation, which adds that the event will “provide networking opportunities with local community leaders and politicians.”

After Fletcher was termed out of the state Assembly in 2012, he was named senior director for global strategic initiatives for Qualcomm, the giant chip-maker co-founded by Jacobs. As it happens, a key board member of the Diplomacy Council is another Jacobs loyalist, Qualcomm senior engineer Ram Rajagopalan.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Jazz jam at a private party

A couple of accidental crashes at California English
Next Article

City Lights: Journey Through Light & Sound, Hotel Holiday Tea Service

Events December 7-December 11, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader