A socialist challenger is taking on the longtime conservative mayor of a San Diego County city where Republicans have controlled the council for decades.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, who has held the top job for more than 12 years, will face labor organizer and former educator Alexander Kraft in the Nov. 3 election, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Kraft is a member of the Peace and Freedom Party and is running on a “working-class socialist” platform, in stark political contrast with the conservative incumbent.
Wells has served on the City Council since 2008 and became mayor in 2013.
He’s campaigning on public safety and the city’s finances, pointing to $63 million in reserves and a fully staffed police department.
“Public safety is my number one responsibility,” his campaign website states.
Wells has also fought several policies coming out of Sacramento, including the state’s approach to homelessness, and helped lead El Cajon in a lawsuit challenging California’s sanctuary laws.
Kraft grew up in a trailer park in El Cajon, worked on an assembly line and later graduated from UC Berkeley, according to the Union-Tribune.
His campaign notes that he has organized protests and rallies around social justice issues since the Iraq War.
“El Cajon’s multi-ethnic working class is under attack by a MAGA-controlled city government more interested in writing checks to billionaire landlords and selling out our residents to ICE than in meeting people’s needs,” his website states.
Homelessness is a major issue for both candidates, but they disagree on how to tackle it.
Wells supports clearing encampments and a treatment-first approach, while Kraft has protested the city’s ban on feeding people in public parks.
Kraft also wants a community response team to handle mental health crises and an audit of police spending to potentially redirect money toward community needs.
Campaign filings showed Wells with $13,715 in cash as of June 30, compared with $6,701 for Kraft, the Union-Tribune reported.
Another race could also shift the balance of the council, with three candidates competing for the District 1 seat being vacated by longtime Councilmember Gary Kendrick.
Kendrick was a longtime Republican before leaving the party and registering as a Democrat.
Republican Chuck Kaye, Democrat Patrick Grillot and Osama Bayati, whose party affiliation was unclear, are running to replace him.
Kaye, a career law enforcement officer, is campaigning on public safety, lower taxes and keeping El Cajon family-friendly.
Grillot, who has served on a city oversight committee for police and fire facility funding, is focused on public safety, economic development, and homelessness.
Bayati is campaigning to help young people and small businesses, to impose term limits, and to oppose what he calls the “unnecessary expansion” of Flock Safety license-plate reader cameras.
Voters will decide both races on Nov. 3.
