Democrat Dr. Jennifer Campbell defeated Republican incumbent Lorie Zapf by a wide margin in the Nov. 6 election for City Council District 2, which encompasses the Peninsula as well as Pacific and Mission beaches, Midway-Pacific Highway, Bay Ho, Bay Park and Morena.
With 100 percent of District 2 precincts tallied, Campbell had 22,191 votes (56.5 percent), while Zapf had 16,980 votes (43.35 percent).
With District 2 being flipped from Republican to Democrat, it gave the nine-member San Diego City Council a veto-proof 6-3 majority for Democrats on the City Council.
“I was optimistic I would win, but was really heartened by the mandate the large win gave me.” Campbell said. “I’m honored to have been elected, and I’m very grateful to everyone who helped with the campaign. I will be responsive to the needs of the district and its communities.”
Campbell is to be sworn into office as the next District 2 Councilmember on Dec. 10.
Regarding her agenda, Campbell said: “One of the main parts of my platform was to help resolve the homeless situation, and to help make housing more available for all income levels. Those are my two priorities at this point.”
Added Campbell: “We have to keep our beaches and bays clean and make them even better. We have to abide by our Climate Action Plan. We have to fix our crumbling infrastructure.”
A perusal of the District 2 precinct map shows a clear division of political patronage. Zapf handily carried Point Loma, the northern portions of North Clairemont and some precincts in norther Pacific Beach bordering Bird Rock. 
Campbell’s support, however, was strong in the core of the beach district, as she overwhelming carried most of Pacific and Mission beaches, as well as much of Bay Ho, Bay Park and the PB-La Jolla border.
It was a hard fought — and costly — political campaign. Estimates are both candidates spent a combined $2.4 million on the no-holds-barred District 2 race. Both women did extensive campaign advertisements and mailers sent out to beach-area residents. 
Campbell’s campaign literature linked Zapf with President Donald Trump, as well as attacking her for past comments she allegedly made disparaging homosexuals, which Zapf later apologized for.
Conversely, Zapf alleged that Campbell may have committed disability fraud, arguing her opponent should have been dismissed as a candidate on those grounds.
One thing was certain going into the Nov. 6 election in District 2: Democrats enjoyed an approximately 10,000 voter advantage over Republicans in the left-leaning council district.
Zapf declined comment with the media on the election result. John Hoy, Zapf’s political consultant since 2009, who was the strategist for her 2010 and 2014 council victories, discussed the end result.
“We entered the race knowing we had two huge challenges,” said Hoy. “The partisan registration deficit in the council district makes it difficult for any Republican. And the national political environment caused a lot of voters to tune out our message about Lorie’s work on local San Diego issues. We just weren’t able to overcome those two significant problems.”
Hoy gave kudos to Campbell and the Democrats.
“To their credit, Jen Campbell and her team ran a smart, tough campaign,” he said. “They had some significant advantages in this race, and they used them well.”
In the June primary election, Zapf carried 44.6 percent of the vote in the district, more than doubling any other candidate’s share, including third-place finisher Bryan Pease. Pease unsuccessfully argued Zapf was termed out because she had already served two council terms. Zapf insisted the rules did not apply to her, since she’d served her first term representing District 6, and was redistricted into District 2. An appeals court panel saw it Zapf’s way.
After repeated attempts, Beach & Bay Press could not reach newly elected District 2 Councilmember Campbell for comment on the race or her future political agenda.
County Registrar of Voters Michael Vu was pleased by the Nov. 6 voter turnout. He noted it was the highest county rate since the 2010 mid-term election, where Republicans claimed a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives during President Obama’s first term.
With the final tally not being certified until 30 days after the election, Vu estimated San Diego voter turnout to be in the 64- to 68-percent range. “The last time it was as high as 64 percent was in the 2010 mid-term, and the last time it was that high before then was in 1982,” Vu said.
If the ultimate turnout number should end up at 68 percent, Vu said, “That would be the highest turnout on record,” for San Diego.