By Will Carless
Bill Ponder, a retired university administrator, squared off against Marne Foster, a community college administrator and instructor. Both are political newbies, and neither raised much money or ran much of a campaign.
 Photo Credit: Will Carless |
And why would they? Both were guaranteed a place on November’s ballot. As such, Tuesday’s vote was a measure of how each candidate polled based on their grassroots campaigning and appearances at sparsely attended, wonky debates on education policy.
Foster showed she clearly has the edge in that regard. With 98 of precincts reporting, she had 61.7 percent of the vote, trouncing Ponder, with 38.3 percent.
Ponder pinned his opponent’s win on her support from the San Diego Education Association, which has pledged its support for Foster, but hasn’t paid for any mailers or other materials for her yet.
“The union got everybody in line,” Ponder said. “I would have hoped that people would’ve independently thought about what’s in the best interests of students, what’s in the best interests of the districts, and once we get that out there, the general public will start to do that.”
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