A veteran of the San Diego City Attorney’s Office leads a termed-out Assembly member in the race to become City Hall’s top legal adviser.
Assembly member Brian Maienschein, also a former San Diego City Council member, trails Chief Deputy City Attorney Heather Ferbert in early returns – Ferbert has garnered 52.2% of the vote to Maienschein’s 47.8%.
About 127,000 votes have been counted with Ferbert holding a 5,608 vote lead. Nearly 20% of San Diego County precincts had reported.
Ferbert has been endorsed by her boss, Mara Elliott, who is termed out, but Maienschein is backed by Mayor Todd Gloria, most of the City Council and key labor unions.
In a statement, Ferbert said, “This resounding victory makes clear that San Diegans want a city attorney who has the deep legal experience to be a check and balance on the mayor and City Council.”
In the run-up to the election, Ferbert questioned her opponent’s eligibility because his law license had been on “inactive” status, but outside legal counsel hired by the city ruled in Maienschein’s favor.
Ferbert has been with the City Attorney’s Office since 2014 and cites oversight of costly real estate deals in defense of taxpayers and writing laws governing clean up of homeless encampments in the city among her accomplishments.
Maienschein, a former Republican who switched to the Democratic party five years ago, pointed to his position as chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee and winning tougher sentences for those convicted of sex trafficking children among his accomplishments.
Updated 11:25 p.m. March 5, 2024
