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View Full Version : San Diego Elects Murphy Mayor, But Lawsuits Remain



DLR'sCock
11-21-2004, 03:18 PM
Editor's Note | "The Los Angeles Times begins their report with what serves as a conclusion, "Mayor Dick Murphy has out-polled write-in candidate Councilwoman Donna Frye by 2,200 votes . . ." But they go on to present compelling data that the result is far from certain. We find that to be flatly misleading. We recommend reviewing the reports below with a critical eye. - ma.
Also see below:
Is Donna Frye San Diego's Next Mayor? •

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San Diego Elects Murphy Mayor, But Lawsuits Remain
By Tony Perry
The Los Angeles Times

Friday 19 November 2004

San Diego - Mayor Dick Murphy has outpolled write-in candidate Councilwoman Donna Frye by 2,200 votes in unofficial results released late today, but the election remains unsettled until three lawsuits are resolved.

The unofficial tally was released after days of radio talk show fulmination, national publicity, hand counting by election workers, and general angst among the politically involved segment of the local citizenry.

Election officials said all votes have been counted except a small number of votes from military personnel stationed abroad.

"The only thing hindering us now are lawsuits," Murphy said after the results were announced. "We hope a judge rules in our favor quickly so we can get back to the business of the city."

Two lawsuits are attempting to have Frye's candidacy ruled illegal and have a new runoff held between Murphy and county Supervisor Ron Roberts.

A third lawsuit seeks to force county registrar of voters Sally McPherson to count write-in votes for Frye that have been excluded because voters did not darken the oval on the left of the line where they wrote Frye's name.

Although it is unknown how many "empty oval" votes exist for Frye, her loyalists believe there may be four to five thousand, enough for her to overtake Murphy's lead.

The election, one of the more unusual in the history of California's second-largest city, has pitted business leaders who favored Murphy and Roberts against environmentalists and labor union leaders who backed Frye.

Frye's resume - surf shop owner, wife of surfing legend Skip Frye - and her meteoric rise in local politics brought national attention to what was otherwise a lackluster contest between two Republicans with long years of public service.

Frye, 52, a Democrat, entered the race five weeks before election day. Her write-in candidacy was approved by long-time City Clerk Charles Abdelnour, with no objection from City Atty. Casey Gwinn.

She campaigned on a premise that she could do a better job fixing the city's financial problems.

She is the only council member to vote against the city's underfunding of the employee pension plan - which has a $2 billion deficit. She has often boycotted closed-door meetings of the council.

After Frye appeared to outpoll Murphy and Roberts on election day, two lawsuits alleged that her candidacy was illegal under the City Charter, which does not permit write-in candidates in runoff elections.

But a Superior Court judge, brought in from Imperial County after local judges were recused, refused to stop the vote-counting and declared, "Let the people's voice be heard." A second lawsuit is pending in federal court.

On Wednesday, the San Diego League of Women Voters filed a suit to force election workers to count write-in ballots even if voters did not fill in blank ovals next to the line where they had written Frye's name.

McPherson has refused to count such ballots, citing state law that requires that the ovals be darkened.

Judge Charles Jones, who rejected the suit challenging Frye, is set to hear the League of Women Voters case Monday. The league, which has taken no sides in the race, says it is fighting for the principle that all votes should be counted.

Frye had earlier blasted the two lawsuits aimed at disqualifying her, but today declared her support for the League of Women Voters suit.

"I have nothing but admiration and respect for the League of Women Voters and their desire to defend the fundamental right to vote and to have every vote count," she said.

An attorney representing Murphy is contesting the League of Women Voters suit. Attorney Bob Ottilie argues that the rule about darkening in the ovals was well publicized by the Frye campaign, the registrar, and even the League of Women Voters on its website.

In another high-profile local race, activist attorney and former federal prosecutor Michael Aguirre has beaten Executive Assistant City Atty. Leslie Devaney to succeed termed-out City Atty. Casey Gwinn.




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Is Donna Frye San Diego's Next Mayor?
NBCSandiego.com

Wednesday 03 November 2004

Murphy has 34 percent; Roberts has 31 percent.
San Diego - City Councilwoman Donna Frye - a surf-shop owner-turned-politician who mounted a write-in challenge to San Diego County's established leaders - appears to hold a slim lead over the incumbent mayor, preliminary results showed Wednesday.

If Frye wins, it will be the first time in more than two decades that a write-in candidate has won a major race in San Diego County.

But election officials cautioned that the final tally would not be known for several days as workers counted the thousands of write-in ballots and added in absentee and provisional ballots. County Registrar of Voters Sally McPherson said Wednesday that workers had resumed counting ballots on Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday night, Frye said she promised to work hard for the people if she won the election.

"If I am fortunate enough to be elected mayor of our city, I will be the best public servant they've ever had," Frye told NBC 7/39.

During the race, Frye criticized Mayor Dick Murphy's financial leadership and a so-called culture of secrecy at City Hall. She is presumably would be the candidate named on the write-in ballots, which accounted for 35 percent, or 121,278, of the votes cast Tuesday.

With 100 percent of the 843 precincts reporting, Murphy won 34 percent, or 117,075 votes, and County Supervisor Ron Roberts won 31 percent, or 105,663 votes.

Roberts refused to weigh in on the surprising number of write-in votes.

"I don't know," said Roberts. "I don't know what conclusion to draw. Let's wait until all the numbers are in, and then we can draw whatever conclusions are appropriate."

For his part, Murphy remained optimistic about election results on Wednesday morning. He said that if he remained mayor, he would have no problems working with Frye.

"if I still pull this out and win, Donna and I will certainly be able to mend fences," said Murphy. "I don't think we have any hard feelings out of this race at all."

McPherson said workers still needed to manually determine which candidate is named on the write-in ballots. Thousands of provisional ballots also need to be verified, as well as absentee ballots that were dropped off at polls Tuesday, she said.

"We'll work every day to get these finished as quickly as we can," she said. "It's very labor intensive. It's a manual process."

McPherson said she could not estimate what portion of write-in ballots counted so far had Frye's name.

It may take until Nov. 30 to declare a winner if the race is tight, she said. The inauguration is Dec. 6.

Frye, who entered politics as an environmental activist, started her write-in bid only five weeks before the election. Until announcing her candidacy, the race had been a rematch of the 2000 contest between Murphy and Roberts.

A deepening scandal surrounding the city's underfunded pension plan came to dominate the campaign, however. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department are investigating San Diego's financial practices amid questions over whether city officials hid bad news from investors and taxpayers.

Frye, 52, was the lone dissenter in a 2002 council vote to enhance retirement benefits - one that Murphy said he regretted.

The race was nonpartisan, though Murphy and Roberts are Republican. Frye is a Democrat.

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