Unions back city hall incumbents, with one exception

With one deep-pocketed exception, local labor unions prefer city hall incumbents, whether Democrat or Republican, based on the most recent campaign expense data on file with the city clerk's office.

In the hotly contested Fourth District, where the June primary was narrowly won by challenger Monica Montgomery over Councilwoman Myrtle Cole, a fellow Democrat, a political committee run by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council has spent $78,602 backing Cole.

Expenditures on behalf of the labor group's efforts to revive the hopes of the embattled incumbent, whose comments justifying racial profiling by police set off a storm of controversy two years ago, included $30,520 on September 22 for polling.

San Diego's Police Officer Association's Political Action Committee, favoring Cole, came up with $3886 on October 8 to cover a mailer on her behalf.

Sixth District Republican council incumbent Chris Cate, whose own record was roiled by last year's SoccerCity memo leak, for which he was fined $5000, and his subsequent agreement to pay a $1500 penalty after admitting to unrelatedcampaign finance violations, is another beneficiary of police PAC spending, including $5028 worth of signs promoting Cate's reelection bid.

In addition, Cate is supported by the San Diego Municipal Employees Association, which put up $8412 on October 6 for a mailer on his behalf, city campaign disclosures show.

The cops are busy in the rough-and-tumble race between incumbent Republican Lorie Zapf - who escaped term limits when the boundaries of her district were redrawn, and Democrat Jen Campbell, a Bay Ho physician - backing Zapf with mailings and signs costing $8000.

On the other side of that race is the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 569 Candidate PAC, which on October 3 gave $30,000 to a newly-created independent political committee calling itself San Diegans Against Hate Opposing Lorie Zapf for City Council 2018. An additional $30,300 contribution was made the same day by Scott Borden, listed as a member/manager of ETC Adventures LLC.

The anti-Zapf committee reports spending a total of $86,225 through October 4 on polling, mailers, digital ads, and consulting fees to purvey its message linking the councilwoman to support of Donald Trump.

Another independent spending committee, funded by the GOP Lincoln Club to attack Zapf's opponent Campbell, has spent $68,294 through October 5, filings show.