Lisa Bartlett

Catherine Blakespear

California District 36 Senate Race Rumored to Be Heating Up

The June primary is eight months away, and the November general election is more than a year from now. The field of candidates is rumored to be filling out. 

First to announce was Carlsbad City Council Member Priya Bhat-Patel. Sadly for vocal local Democrats, she dropped out months later.

Next to announce was Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear. Sadly for some vocal local Democrats, the controversial Blakespear is hanging in there.

Apparently not wanting to yield the seat without a fight, Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, the stealth Republican candidate, is poised to jump in.

Blakespear, as mayor of Encinitas and chair of SANDAG, and Bartlett, as former mayor of Dana Point and current county supervisor, have comparable résumés.

Blakespear is the Democratic Party’s anointed one. Her list of endorsements by fellow Democratic politicians is as long as your left arm.

Bartlett holds the county supervisorial seat formerly held by Republican Pat Bates, who is the current but termed-out senator in District 36. It seems a safe assumption that Bates will back Bartlett when and if she declares her candidacy. Bartlett endorsed Larry Elder during the September attempt to recall Governor Gavin Newsom, so there’s that.

Assuming that Bartlett runs, unless other formidable candidates appear before the June primary, Blakespear and Bartlett will take the two spots on the ballot and go head to head in November 2022.

As of February 10, 2021, there were 620,236 registered voters in the district. Of those, 34.18% were Democrats, 35.57% were Republicans, and the remainder were independent or scattered among other parties.

The redistricting that will precede the primary election is not expected to change the district’s statistics much. In 2018, incumbent Bates kept the seat by a 3% margin.

At post time, it looks like a tight race next year.