La Mesa City Council member Akilah Weber speaks as she sits with other members of the panel during the Black Excellence in Public Service: Serving and Protecting Our Children forum held at the Skyline Hills Branch Library in San Diego, Saturday Feb. 23, 2019. Weber was one of five candidates running in the San Diego-area’s 79th Assembly District after her mother, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, resigned in January 2021 to succeed Alex Padilla as the state’s top elections official.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The daughter of California Secretary of State Shirley Weber was leading Tuesday in a special election to fill Weber’s vacant seat in the state Assembly.
Dr. Akilah Weber had 52.7% of the early ballot returns.
Republican small business owner Marco Contreras, who raised the second-most campaign money behind Weber, was in second place in what is considered a safe Democratic district.
He had 32.6% of the vote.
Weber was one of five candidates running in the San Diego area’s 79th Assembly District after her mother resigned in January to succeed Alex Padilla as the state’s top elections official. Padilla, in turn, left when he was appointed to the U.S. Senate to replace Vice President Kamala Harris.
Weber is an OB-GYN with Rady Children’s Hospital and UC San Diego Health, and a La Mesa councilwoman.
She had endorsements from the state Democratic Party, California Legislative Black Caucus, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, and independent financial backing from health care interests while far outraising and outspending her rivals.
