SAN DIEGO (CNS) – City Councilman Stephen Whitburn faces a challenge on Tuesday, Election Day, from attorney and educator Coleen Cusack in the race to represent District 3, Downtown and Core governmental.

Whitburn, who is also chairman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Transportation System, won 52.5% of the vote in the March primary to Cusack’s 20.8% in a field of four.

Both candidates are Democrats running for the officially nonpartisan position, but they present two very different approaches to addressing homelessness in the city.

Whitburn was instrumental in passing a controversial camping ban law and has focused on getting the homeless into shelters and off the streets, in addition to approving thousands of homes in his role as a member of the Housing Committee and Land Use Council.

“I also hope that all San Diegans will have safer, healthier neighborhoods where public areas are used for their intended purposes,” he said when the unsafe camping ordinance was passed. “Together, we can improve the quality of life in communities throughout San Diego.”

Cusack is a homeless advocate seeking to increase housing supply to get people off the streets, and he said there is misinformation about the homeless population in the city and county that only serves to stigmatize them.

“We have a moral and legal duty to the residents of our city to provide housing to everyone and all income groups,” his campaign website reads. “When we fail in that obligation we cannot hide from our failures by blaming the homeless.”

Whitburn has been endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party, the San Diego and Imperial County Labor Council, the City of San Diego Firefighters, the San Diego Police Officers Association, Representatives Scott Peters and Sara Jacobs, Mayor Todd Gloria and four of their council colleagues. . He was elected in 2020.

Cusack has received endorsements from the San Diego Union-Tribune, the California Democratic Tenants Council, the San Diego Education Association, Run Women Run and former mayoral candidate Geneviéve Jones-Wright.

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