SAN DIEGO — The race for San Diego Mayor will take center stage at a court hearing scheduled for the end of March.
A lawsuit challenging Larry Turner's residency is back in the spotlight after Tuesday's primary, which indicates Turner will face off against Mayor Todd Gloria in November.
Last month, a judge allowed Turner to remain on the March primary ballot. He set a court date for March 29. At that hearing, Turner is expected to testify under oath, laying out evidence he said proves he was a City of San Diego resident when he filed papers to run for mayor.
"There's nothing to it. I live in San Diego. I lived in San Diego then. This is just one of those tricks they're going to keep pulling for the next 8 months," said Turner during an interview Wednesday morning.
The lawsuit alleges Turner did not live in San Diego full-time for the required 30 days before he filed papers to run for mayor.
Turner, a San Diego Police officer and retired Marine, said he is eligible to run. He accused people connected to Gloria of 'dirty politics.'
"They're not very smart with how to do this. I deal with criminals all the time, even the lowest level criminals do a better job of covering stuff up and having degrees of separation. They might want to watch some detective shows on how that's done," he said.
CBS 8 spoke to Gloria before a ribbon-cutting event in Mission Valley on Wednesday, and asked him about the allegations.
"I have no involvement in that, I don't see that as helpful in the campaign. We are focused on my record explaining that to San Diegans. When San Diegans hear what I have done over the last 4 years under the most difficult of circumstances, they will support my re-election," Gloria said.
"Whatever those external efforts are I have no connection to them, I have no involvement with it and I'm not paying any attention to it. I'm running my own race," added Gloria.
Turner said he is just a regular San Diegan running for office to steer San Diego in what he believes is the right direction.
"I really want to focus on the future after November, it's going to be a new San Diego. We're going to have an economic boom, we're going to help humans on the street instead of push them across an invisible line so they're not counted as downtown anymore," said Turner.
Mayor Gloria said being mayor of the country's 8th largest city, is not for someone inexperienced.
"It's very easy to say you're going to solve a particular problem and then leave it very and thin and vague about what you're going to do," said Mayor Gloria. "I do have a record, and my record shows I've increased the amount of funding for road repair, I've kept our crime rate low, I'm continuing to do everything I possibly can to put roofs over people's heads at prices they can afford."
"It's very different than the sort of broad promises, that are light as air, that really have no substance behind it," he added.
If it turns out Turner is not eligible to run for mayor, the third-place candidate would take his spot, which at this point appears to be attorney Genevieve Jones-Wright.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria holds large lead with Larry Turner in second place