SAN DIEGO — Former Chula Vista City Attorney Bart Miesfeld and Deputy City Attorney Marco Verdugo today appeared headed for a March 5 runoff in the special election for Chula Vista city attorney.
Miesfeld led the field of three with 39.41%, 7,782 votes, while Verdugo was second with 38.26%, 7,555 votes, according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.
Former federal public defender Dan Smith Diaz was third with at 22.32%, 4,407 votes. If, as expected, no candidate receives a majority, there will be a runoff between the top two finishers.
The special election was necessitated by the Sept. 3, 2022, death of Simon Silva from cancer. Silva, who had been a Chula Vista deputy city attorney since 2009, defeated Smith Diaz, 50.6%-49.4%, in the November 2022 general election.
The winner will serve until December 2026. Miesfeld was appointed as Chula Vista city attorney by the City Council in 2008 and served for two years.