Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

2020 may be unpredictable, but not for these candidates

It’s fair to say the vast majority of voters already know who they will be voting for president this year, if they haven’t already voted — not that it matters much in California, which will almost certainly lend its 55 electoral votes to Joe Biden.

But what about down-ballot elections?

The highest profile local race, between Darrell Issa and Ammar Campa-Najjar for the 50th Congressional District, appears to be a statistical dead heat, some polling has shown, giving local voters a unique chance to determine whether Democrats will expand their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives or Republicans will hold the line.

Further down the ballot than that, though?

As it turns out, voters may not have much of a choice in many lower-profile races.

That’s because contests for 11 separate seats on local boards in Fallbrook and Bonsall only have one candidate each.

The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, Fallbrook Union High School District, Fallbrook Regional Health District and Bonsall Unified School District all have two seats each that are up for election this year with only one candidate. The Fallbrook Public Utility District has three unopposed candidates.

Some of those candidates knew they would face little opposition when they pulled papers to run. Some, though, were not expecting as much.

Suzanne Lundin, a candidate – or, more accurately, the candidate – for Fallbrook Union Elementary School District Trustee Area No. 2, said she knew going into the race that two current FUESD board members, Lisa Masten and Siegrid Stillman, resided in her trustee area, and assumed she would be running against an incumbent.

Masten initially was the only current board member to pull papers to run in Trustee Area 2.

“Every indication I had gotten was that she was a serious candidate and was planning to run, so I knew going into this that it was very likely that I would be running against an incumbent and I also know how much of a high risk that is because most voters will tend to support an incumbent in a down-ballot election,” Lundin, a retired fundraising consultant, said.

That threat of running against a better-known candidate did not scare her, though.

“I felt it was so important to have a new voice on the school board joining some of the other new voices I thought would be there, because I really think it is time for a change,” Lundin said. “And by that I mean, I think the school district is doing a great job with our kids, I don't mean to be critical of that, but I think we can do better focusing on reading proficiency.”

Masten, however, did not ultimately complete the filing process to run for re-election. She later confirmed via email to Village News she was not running.

“When the deadline for filing came and went and I couldn't tell yet from the (San Diego County) Registrar of Voters website what was going on, I kept tracking it and it wasn't until a colleague of mine told me, ‘you're running unopposed’ that I found out,” Lundin said.

She said it was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one – instead of making campaign signs, Lundin could take time to prepare herself for being a school board member.

“It was wonderful to know that I didn't have to spend the next two and a half months campaigning and I could spend that time getting ready for the job and bringing myself up to speed,” Lundin said

She said she is looking forward to her new position.

“I feel grateful for being given this opportunity and I’m humbled by the responsibilities that I will have and I’m very excited to be serving with what I believe will be an outstanding school board and working with a great district office team,” Lundin said.

Don McDougal, unopposed in the race for Fallbrook Public Utility District Board of Directors Division 4, is in a much different position. He’s not a new candidate – he’s a known force, both at FPUD and in the Fallbrook community.

McDougal, who in his day job is the president and CEO of Grand Tradition Estate and Gardens, has served on the FPUD board since 2004.

He said he’s actually not a fan of campaigning, and so he was not too upset to find himself without opposition for another term – McDougal did face opposition in two of his previous runs for the FPUD board, he said.

“I’m not a politician, I hate campaigning, that’s probably the worst part of it, is having to pick up signs and banners and you get your name out there,” McDougal said.

He also said he felt for a small utility district board like FPUD, having unopposed candidates can be a good thing.

“The nice thing where we have three board members this time who are unopposed, so there are really no candidates who are running against the board members, is it allows the board to have continuity and continue to work and accomplish the things that we’ve been doing over the last several years and keep that moving forward without having to have a new candidate come in,” McDougal said.

He said having board members who care about the community they serve is what’s important, not whether or not there is competition every election.

“I don’t think it really matters one way or another; the main interest is to have board members that are passionate, believe in the community, believe in what they’re doing and are working together to try to help the community,” McDougal said. “I’d much rather have incumbents running unopposed than have somebody come in that has a whole different agenda that wants to turn things totally upside down. A few years ago we had a candidate who ran for the water district that just came in and wanted to, you know, vote ‘no’ on everything, was disruptive. And all that does is it creates turmoil and chaos and a feeling of ill will within the board, so having a board that can work together as a cohesive group and for the benefit of the community is always preferable.”

He said he takes the fact that he is running unopposed this time around as an indication he is doing a good job.

“I’ve been lucky that I’ve always had a lot of great support within the community, so I’ve never really had any real heavy challenges and I’ve always done what I think is best for the community and obviously the ratepayers seem to agree,” McDougal said.

Not that he plans on doing it forever. While McDougal is being elected for at least another four years, he said he’s not sure what the future will look like after that term.

“I think I’m possibly getting near the end of my time, it’s time to let some others take in there,” McDougal said. “I’m retiring the end of November of this year, so I haven’t decided the future that far, but I think it’s getting time to get some new younger blood come in and it would be nice if we could find somebody that kind of shares the same ideas and the same principles that is willing to take over.”

Will Fritz can be reached by email at [email protected].

 

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