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Olga Diaz to seek re-election in Escondido

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Escondido’s November City Council election has gotten more interesting, with Councilwoman Olga Diaz announcing she plans to seek a third term.

Two years ago — after city voters soundly rejected her bid for mayor — Diaz hinted she might be finished with politics and needed to weigh her next steps. She said this week she decided that her more liberal voice is needed on the otherwise conservative council.

“I feel like I add value to the council,” she said. “I like the work in terms of reading and thinking and planning and engaging with people. I’ve learned a lot in the years I’ve been in office and I think those are skills that are valuable. I hope people agree with that.”

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In November, she’ll face at least one known challenger, a pastor named Joe Garcia who was recruited by Mayor Sam Abed and has already won the endorsements of three other council members.

Abed and Diaz are political opposites and Diaz is typically on the losing end of 4-1 council votes. The mayor and other council members sometimes accuse her of belaboring off-topic points and monopolizing council time with her concerns about various topics.

Diaz was first elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. She now represents council District 3 and this is the first time she’ll face reelection in that zone. In 2013, Escondido switched to council elections by geographic districts, rather than citywide votes, after a voting-rights lawsuit claimed the city’s Hispanic majority was not properly represented on the county.

One of the new districts has a majority Latino population, but it’s not District 3, which encompass southern Escondido. Garcia, the other District 3 candidate, is also Latino and is a volunteer Escondido police chaplain.

The majority of registered voters in District 3 are Republicans, but that doesn’t bother Diaz, a Democrat. She said she’s prepared to work for each vote.

“I know I’ll have to earn it,” Diaz said. “I’ll have to go out and knock on doors and do all the traditional campaigning stuff.”

She said she’s twice won city-wide elections in a town with a majority Republican voting base.

“I don’t have any insecurities about campaigning,” Diaz said. “I think I’ve had every possible best and worst experience in politics I could possibly need or want.”

Candidates for council can’t officially enter the race until July 18. Diaz said she won’t start actively campaigning until after the June primaries, which have nothing to do with the November race.

Abed said last month that he and others recruited Garcia to run against Diaz, believing he’ll help unite the community toward common goals.

“He is Hispanic and is going to add diversity to the council,” Abed said. “He will be a perfect fit and will be the face of the Hispanic community. He’s a conservative guy and a guy who will continue to bring the city together.”

The only other Escondido council seat up for election in November is occupied by Mike Morasco in District 4. So far no other candidate has emerged to challenge Morasco, who is running for his second full four-year term. He was appointed to the seat in 2010 and won the 2012 election.

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