Campaign contribution disclosures filed this week highlight how wide open the races are for open San Diego City Council seats in mid-coastal District 2 and South Bay District 8 just four months ahead of the June 2 primary.
Four candidates in the District 8 race have raised more than $30,000. And candidates Gerardo Ramirez and Antonio Martinez closed the gap on fundraising frontrunner Venus Molina during the second half of 2025.
Three candidates in District 2 have raised more than $30,000. But former City Hall staffer Josh Coyne widened his fundraising lead during the second half of 2025.
Coyne, who now works for the Downtown San Diego Partnership, raised nearly twice as much as both Deputy City Attorney Nicole Crosby and Point Loma neighborhood leader Mandy Havlik.
In southeastern San Diego’s District 4, incumbent Henry Foster appears to have at least one viable challenger. Foster was out-raised during the second half of 2025 by nurse and community organizer Martha Abraham.
In north central District 6, incumbent Kent Lee dominated fundraising during the second half of 2025 with nearly $60,000 in contributions. His leading opponent, Mark Powell, hasn’t filed any disclosures because he didn’t enter the race until Jan. 6.
In District 8, which includes Barrio Logan and Otay Mesa, Ramirez raised $35,000 during the second half of 2025, while Martinez raised nearly $33,000 during that time.
Molina raised only $23,193 but still posted the highest overall total for the year: $89,427. Martinez raised $82,000 total during 2025, while Ramirez raised only the $35,000 from the second half.
Martinez is a longtime San Ysidro school board member. Ramirez is chief of staff to Councilmember Vivian Moreno, and Molina is chief of staff to Councilmember Jennifer Campbell.
A fourth candidate in the race, real estate agent Rafael Perez, raised $11,479 during the second half of 2025 and $30,559 during the entire year.
Of the other candidates, Kenia Peraza raised $3,462 during the second half of 2025, and Francisco Mayoral Munoz raised $100. No other District 8 candidates reported any fundraising.
In District 2, which includes Clairemont and Ocean Beach, Coyne raised just under $24,000 during the second half of 2025, while Crosby raised nearly $13,000 and Havlik just over $8,200.
For the year, Coyne has raised $93,000, Crosby has collected $35,000 and Havlik has pulled in $30,000.
No other District 2 candidates reported any fundraising. But former Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey is widely expected to enter the race by the March 5 deadline.
Bailey, who has moved from Coronado to the Fleet Ridge area of Point Loma, spent roughly $50,000 on two recent mailers criticizing San Diego leaders for what they say is a variety of mismanagement.
In District 4, which includes Encanto and Skyline, Abraham more than doubled Foster’s $8,557 fundraising total during the first six months of 2025 with $19,506 in donations.
Abraham entered the local political scene last winter when she criticized City Hall and Foster for an aggressive backyard apartment incentive that the City Council eventually rolled back last summer.
Roosevelt Williams raised $4,000 in the District 4 race, and Mathew Gordon raised $1,100. No other candidates reported any contributions.
Incumbents rarely lose San Diego City Council races. It’s only happened twice since 1992, but both those two losses — by Myrtle Cole and Lorie Zapf — were relatively recent in 2018.
And incumbents Foster and Lee could be vulnerable to anti-City Hall sentiment in many San Diego neighborhoods fueled by outcry over paid parking in Balboa Park, a new trash fee for single-family homes and the backyard apartment policy.
In each district, there will be a November runoff between the two candidates who get the most votes in the June 2 primary — even if the top candidate gets more than 50% of the vote.