A special election is now three weeks away to choose a state assembly representative in the 80th district, which covers part of the South Bay.

The April 5 special election is to fill Lorena Gonzalez’s seat for the remainder of the current term ending in December. Gonzalez resigned from his seat in January to take a leadership position with the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. She represented the district for eight years.

The district covers parts of southern San Diego County and includes parts of the cities of Chula Vista, National City, and San Diego.

The three candidates vying for the post are Lincoln Pickard (R), Georgette Gómez (D) and David Alvarez (D).

There will actually be two different elections at the same time with the same three candidates

One is the special election that would fill the rest of Gonazalez’s term and the other is for a new term where the person would be elected in January 2023.

Pickard ran unsuccessfully for headquarters in 2016 and 2018. He says he is against COVID-19 mandates, abortion and is for oil drilling in California and expanding gun rights to fire.

“I’m out there to voice my opinion and give people the opportunity to vote the opposite way to what the Democrats are doing, we see President Joe Biden,” Pickard said. “At the top in my opinion, if you vote for a local Democrat, you support Joe Biden at the top.”

Gómez served on the San Diego City Council from 2016 to 2020.

“My commitment is to continue to improve the quality of our neighborhoods, from air quality to affordable housing, to increase people’s income at work,” Gómez said. “So all the issues that working families face.”

David Alvarez also served on the San Diego City Council from 2010 to 2018. He says his top priorities, if elected, would be education, affordable housing and ending homelessness.

“I think all of these issues really concern me, as a father, as a member of this community who has lived here all his life, as someone who has served in public service and who knows that we can make a difference when you enter public service doing a good job,” Alvarez said.

The San Diego County Registrar of Electors announced Monday that nearly 250,000 ballots were on their way to eligible registered voters for the April 5 special primary election for Assembly District 80.

Even though the recent redistricting has changed the boundaries of Assembly districts, the boundaries used at the start of the term will determine who can vote to fill the seat to complete the term.

This will be the first special election held under the Voters’ Choice Act. By law, every active registered voter will automatically receive a mail-in ballot.

To find out if you live in the 80th arrondissement, click here.