I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to hear that the race is on in America’s Finest City. I come to Kos for a progressive political fix because local politics (of which I am trying to learn more) is a byzantine corrupt mess that is hard to understand.

She’s running against a barely contested Mayor Kevin Faulconer, beloved of local hoteliers, who has fought for a stadium to keep the crappy Chargers here and vetoed a City Council move to raise the minimum wage in one of the least-affordable places to live in the US. Screw that guy.

I knew that former Assemblywoman Lori primaried Scott Peters (DINO CA-52) in a hotly contested fight. Peters went on to win and voted for TPP and a number of centrist and conservative causes. Screw that guy, too.

Says Lori,

You’re seeing increasingly lower numbers of people choosing the top-level position in the eighth-largest city in the country, over a million people. I believe in more voter participation. I want to encourage more people to turn out to vote and I want to have a very spirited debate on the future of this city. That won’t happen unless someone steps in and says, “I’m running for mayor of San Diego.”

She’s running as an Independent, not being best buddies with some elements of the Democratic establishment here. Lori notoriously quietly warned the Democratic apparatus about disgraced former Mayor Bob Filner’s sexual harassment shenanigans, and was kinda shut up. She wrote up the whole thing in a five-part series in the San Diego Free Press. Don’t screw that guy.

Does she have a chance? I certainly hope so and I certainly will get off my duff (and out of the ocean — it’s a little too cold right now) to help her as best as I can. I will continue to diary blog about how you and I can help a true progressive, Latina, and environmental activist woman running for Mayor of the Nation’s eight largest city!

Stay Classy indeed!