(SAN DIEGO) — Former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey and Deputy San Diego City Attorney Nicole Crosby will advance to the November general election after receiving the most votes in the San Diego City Council District 2 primary.
Bailey led the seven-candidate field with 14,800 votes, or 34.84%, while Crosby followed closely with 14,325 votes, or 33.72%. The remaining candidates- Josh Coyne, Mandy Havlik, Mike Rickey, Jacob Mitchell and Paul Suppa- did not advance.
Photo Credit: San Diego County Registrar of Voters
District 2 includes Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Midway and other coastal neighborhoods. The winner will replace Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, who is termed out.
Bailey and Crosby share several priorities, including public safety, housing affordability and improving neighborhood services. However, they often differ on how the city should address those challenges.
Here's how they differ on key issues.
Bailey vs. Crosby at a Glance
Photo Credit: Jenny Russell, OpGov.news
Budget
The candidates offered different explanations for the city's financial challenges and how they should be addressed.
Bailey argued the city has a spending problem rather than a revenue problem, pointing to growth in city staffing and management over the past decade.
"The city does not have a revenue problem. It has a spending management problem," Bailey said. "The city's population has increased by 1%. City staffing has increased by 27%."
He highlighted what he sees as excessive growth in management positions and criticized what he described as declining city services despite higher spending.
"Much of that was fueled by middle management growth of 461%," Bailey said. "Instead of accomplishing less with more, we need to be accomplishing more with less.”
Crosby said the city should first focus on collecting revenue it is already owed before cutting services residents rely on.
"There are fines and penalties that are outstanding: millions of dollars owed to the city that need to be collected," Crosby said. "Many of the city-owned leases are under market, which means we are leaving money on the table."
She also said San Diego should pursue more state, federal, and private grants.
"We shouldn't be cutting," Crosby said. "We need to look in-house and figure out what is going wrong there first."
Public Safety
Public safety is a priority for both candidates, but each pointed to different causes of the city's staffing shortages.
Bailey said San Diego is understaffed and that adding officers would reduce costly overtime while improving emergency response.
"We're about 300 officers short," Bailey said. "When you bring in more officers, it actually has a net positive benefit to the city's budget."
Crosby, who works with law enforcement as a deputy city attorney, said the city's staffing challenges are tied to both recruitment, affordability, and high costs of living.
"It is very impossible for law enforcement officers when they're starting their career to live here in San Diego because it's so expensive," Crosby said.
She also emphasized changing public perceptions of policing, encouraging young people to pursue careers in law enforcement.
"It's also a culture change and making sure people realize that good people in our communities matter," Crosby said. "The San Diego Police Foundation does a really good job... trying to recruit young individuals who are interested."
Housing and Development
On housing, both candidates supported local planning but differed on how development should move forward.
Bailey said state housing laws have taken planning authority away from local governments.
"I'm generally supportive of the 30-foot height limit in most of the coastal area," Bailey said. "But I'm even more supportive of the city retaining local control for how our communities should develop."
Crosby also emphasized local planning, but emphasized that different neighborhoods require different approaches.
"You can't just implement a one-size-fits-all model for our city," Crosby said. "Each community is not the same."
She said development should follow community plans and include infrastructure improvements.
Homelessness
Homelessness remains one of District 2's most visible issues, and the candidates proposed different strategies for addressing it.
Bailey emphasized enforcement and accountability, arguing the city's current approach delays intervention.
"I don't think it's compassion to let people die in our streets," Bailey said. "We need greater accountability for how taxpayer dollars are being spent and greater accountability when it comes to enforcement."
Crosby focused on mental health treatment and coordination with county services, saying many chronically homeless individuals require specialized care.
"We need to admit that not every single person who's living on the street is the kind of person who is able to get up on their bootstraps," Crosby said.
She said expanding access to mental health and supportive housing services should be a priority.
Crosby said addressing homelessness also requires stronger coordination with San Diego County, noting that many behavioral health and mental health services are administered at the county level.
Short-Term Vacation Rentals
Short-term vacation rentals have long been a contentious issue in District 2's coastal neighborhoods.
Bailey said the city's biggest failure has been enforcing the rules already in place.
"The taxes and fees that were produced by the short-term vacation rentals were supposed to fund enforcement," Bailey said. "Instead, they end up in the general fund."
Crosby argued that vacation rentals have displaced families and reduced neighborhood stability.
"And then you are displacing seniors, families have to move farther, and then we don't have kids in our schools," Crosby said. "We need to focus on kids in our schools, families in our neighborhoods."
She also noted that code enforcement staffing has declined, making enforcement more difficult. As a deputy city attorney who works with code enforcement, she said the situation is challenging.
"They have been reduced in force one third," Crosby said. "That is one third of the enforcement officers that are no longer able to be out there in the streets."
Government Transparency
When asked how they would restore public trust in City Hall, Bailey and Crosby commented on what they see as the city's biggest challenge.
Bailey said restoring trust starts with honest communication about the city's challenges.
"I would be honest with the public," Bailey said.
He argued that residents have lost confidence because they are paying more while seeing slower services and declining city performance.
Crosby said transparency means regularly engaging with residents and explaining how decisions are made.
"Trust is a must," Crosby said. "Evidence-based practices are very important."
She said elected officials should "provide transparency to your constituents" and listen to residents before making policy decisions.
"We need to know where our money's going and why it's going there," she said.
Looking Ahead
Bailey and Crosby agree on many of the issues facing District 2, including public safety, homelessness and housing affordability. However, they have offered different ideas for addressing these challenges.
The general election is on November 3rd, 2026.
To add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at jenny.r@lead4earth.org.
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