With Mayor Mark Arapostathis termed out, La Mesa voters will choose a new mayor this November. Two City Council seats are uncontested and two people are seeking to become city treasurer.
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Four candidates are competing to be La Mesa’s next mayor: Councilmember Patricia Dillard, Councilmember Laura Lothian, Jim Stieringer and Quinn Reese.
Dillard formally launched her campaign for the mayoral race late last year. Councilmember Laura Lothian was also rumored to be running for months before she officially joined the race in April.
A 25-year resident of La Mesa, Dillard has served on the City Council for four years. She is the vice chair of the city’s Community Police Oversight Board and currently works as a mortgage broker.
“I will make sure all La Mesans have access to economic opportunities and high-quality education,” her campaign website reads.
While City Council and mayoral races are technically non-partisan, Dillard is a Democrat and has the endorsement of the San Diego County Democrat Party. La Mesa leans moderately in favor of Democrat candidates, with about 62% of voters favoring Democratic candidates, while roughly 38% lean Republican.
Lothian is endorsed by the San Diego County Republican Party and has served on the City Council for over four years. A real estate agent, she spearheaded the city’s hiring of a full-time community cleanup coordinator and advocated against a battery storage facility being built in a residential neighborhood.
According to her campaign website, which reads “Laura Lothian gets things done,” she aims to simplify the city’s permitting process, protect small businesses, prevent graffiti and litter and install more speed humps.
Lothian currently leads in campaign fundraising; she had $22,163 on hand as of June 30, while Dillard finished the filing period with $8,727 on hand.
Jim Stieringer is a retired businessman and a former treasurer for the city of La Mesa. The Republican is a seasoned public servant, having previously served five terms on the Grossmont Healthcare District Board of Directors and as a Grossmont Union High School District board member.
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“I will be your voice as we work to stem the relentless ‘ghettoization’ of La Mesa,” his candidate statement reads, noting his top priority will be to preserve the Amaya Street trolley station parking lot.
Quinn Reese is a regenerative farmer whose party affiliation is unclear. He is running for mayor to represent the city as a neighbor — not an outsider — with a focus on small businesses, according to his campaign website.
“Too often, the loudest voices at City Hall are tied to money — not the renters, small business owners, and families who make La Mesa what it is,” his website reads.
Two candidates qualified for the two open City Council seats: Moana Alo and Amanda-Dawn Natalia. Both are Democrats with support from the San Diego County Democratic Party.
Alo is a field representative for the state Senate’s 79th District who also serves as a city community services commissioner.
Natalia is an attorney who chairs the city’s Environmental Sustainability Commission and sits on the Community Bond Oversight Committee for the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District.
The two are running unopposed for the open seats.
Voters will also select a city treasurer after La Mesa City Treasurer Matt Strabone resigned earlier this month to take a job as a legal advisor for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization after nearly four years in the role.
The candidates for his replacement are Emmett Stewart and William “Bill” Exeter.
Exeter is a Republican who was defeated by Strabone in 2022 with 54% of the vote. He is a financial advisor with decades of experience in the financial industry.
Stewart is a financial analyst and works as a business operations intern, according to his candidate filings.
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