Kevin Faulconer has shown cross-party appeal in his past campaigns for mayor. He’ll need to keep that up to get elected county supervisor against incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer in November. Lawson-Remer has the support of the local Democratic Party and organized labor as she runs for re-election in the heavily Democratic District 3. The city of San Diego’s former chief executive — who has considerable business and Republican support — seeks to counter that partisan advantage. A committee supporting him helped out last week with a mailer that features a large photo of Faulconer shaking hands with President Barack Obama at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in 2015. Words superimposed on the image stress a Faulconer bipartisan approach, with a focus on homelessness — the issue on which Faulconer has relentlessly attacked Lawson-Remer. “I’m proud of my work with Democrats and Republicans, Presidents Obama and Trump, to secure funding we need to solve the homeless crisis,” Faulconer is quoted in the mailer. The flyer landed just around the time a news story was published that may cause consternation within the Faulconer camp. In the Times of San Diego, JW August revealed Faulconer was paid more than $100,000 to advise the company that oversaw the failed South Bay toll road developed by the San Diego Association of Governments that may cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. The Lawson-Remer forces no doubt will attempt to capitalize on that, likely framing it as the latest boondoggle involving Faulconer, as the supervisor’s campaign has been doing with the city’s 101 Ash St. real estate debacle that unfolded under Faulconer. Faulconer never endorsed Obama and supported his opponents. Yet the mailer seems designed to appeal to Democrats, independents and voters turned off by hardline partisanship. On that score, it’s tough to beat a photo of the former Republican mayor with Obama, who remains very popular with Democrats. The flip side of the mailer features quotes lauding Faulconer’s efforts on homelessness from Elyse Lowe, described as a lifelong Democrat and Clairemont resident, and Janice Williams, a homeless-shelter operator. The decision to mention Donald Trump in the flyer is an interesting one. It casts a more favorable light for Faulconer regarding the former president than has been the case so far in this race. Democrats, labor and Lawson-Remer have been circulating a well-known photo of Faulconer in the Oval Office standing next to Trump seated at his desk. It has appeared in mailers, on billboards and across social media platforms. The context typically reminds voters that Faulconer, after emphatically declining to support Trump in 2016, backed the president for re-election in 2020. This came as Faulconer geared up to run for governor. He entered the race as a replacement candidate when Gov. Gavin Newsom faced a recall in 2021. Newsom crushed the recall and Faulconer finished a distant third among other hopefuls. This raises the question of whether Faulconer lost any of his cross-party appeal and, if so, whether he can regain it. Trump is an anathema to Democrats and lost San Diego County in both presidential elections by landslide margins. There are nearly 61,000 more Democratic registered voters than Republicans in the largely coastal District 3, which stretches from Carlsbad to the Silver Strand south of Coronado, and bulges inland to include the communities of Harmony Grove, Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Peñasquitos, Carmel Valley and Mira Mesa. There are almost as many voters registered as having “no party preference” as Republicans. In theory, Lawson-Remer could win by successfully targeting only Democrats and ignoring Republicans altogether. Like other local offices, supervisor officially is a nonpartisan position, but party affiliations, and resources, can determine elections. However, many issues before the Board of Supervisors aren’t decided strictly along party lines. The stakes are high in the District 3 election. Not only is it a rare, high-profile competitive local race, but a Faulconer win would flip the board’s current 3-2 majority from Democratic to Republican. Not surprisingly, Faulconer had better name identification coming into the campaign, having been mayor for two terms and a council member from the coastal area before that. Lawson-Remer is finishing her first four-year term and is even newer to some voters because the district boundaries were adjusted through the once-a-decade reapportionment a few years ago. Faulconer also has a substantial lead in fundraising, both in the direct candidate campaigns and independent efforts supporting them. The former mayor notes homelessness decreased in the city during his administration. That did happen, but much depends on which period is being considered and how the counting methodology changed, as Lisa Halverstadt of the Voice of San Diego pointed out. He further stresses that homelessness has increased countywide since Lawson-Remer was elected. Lawson-Remer points to the deadly 2017 hepatitis A outbreak during Faulconer’s watch, a tragedy attributed at least in part to unsanitary conditions at homeless encampments on city streets and sidewalks. Faulconer’s tie to the SANDAG toll road is the latest development that could impact the campaign. The Times of San Diego reported that after he was mayor, Faulconer worked as a consultant for the HNTB infrastructure design firm that supervised the work of ETAN Tolling Technology. The two companies were paid $12.7 million for their work on the problematic toll system. According to investigations by SANDAG’s Office of the Independent Performance Auditor, the technology was “headed for trouble since the very beginning.” An early internal report said there could be a loss of $50 million in revenue and the potential for jeopardizing the bonds issued by SANDAG to buy the toll road. It’s impossible to say whether any of that will stick to Faulconer. The Times of San Diego piece has yet to widely circulate. The Lawson-Remer camp is almost certain to try to change that. What they said New York Times on Elon Musk. “Almost a third of 171 posts last week from the X owner were false, misleading or missing vital context.”