![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/vito-distefano-5-15-25-66-1024x684.jpg\")
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and his wife Myllissa McCann attend the opening of the The Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center on May 15, 2025, in Chula Vista. \/ Photo by Vito di Stefano for Voice of San Diego <\/p>\nLast month, attendees of Chula Vista\u2019s annual State of the City speech watched in amazement as Mayor John McCann, in a pre-recorded video segment before the speech, strapped on a parachute and leaped out of an airplane in midair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stunt was part of a Hollywood-style movie starring McCann that warmed up the crowd at the city\u2019s Elite Athlete Training Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As McCann, in the video, rocketed toward the earth with his usually carefully combed hair flying straight up from his head, a caption at the bottom of a pair of jumbo-sized screens inadvertently summed up one reason McCann has lasted more than two decades in the rough and tumble world of South San Diego County politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJohn McCann,\u201d the caption said, \u201cwill do anything to promote the city of Chula Vista.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McCann, a Republican, first won a seat on the Chula Vista City Council in 2002. He ascended to the mayor\u2019s office four years ago and now is campaigning for a second term.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a reputation as Chula Vista\u2019s booster-in-chief, McCann has won six elections in the city, despite Democrats\u2019 nearly two-to-one voter registration dominance. Until just a few months ago, he appeared on a glide path toward re-election unopposed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All of a sudden, he has become a political target.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With clouds darkening for Republicans in a volatile election year, and Democrats eager to flip a strategically important seat, opponents are coalescing around a last-minute challenger and seeking to transform the mayoral race into a referendum on hot-button national issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They are assailing what they call McCann\u2019s failure to support his city\u2019s immigrant community and blaming the mayor for what they describe as a widening gap between rich and poor. And they are working to turn McCann\u2019s strengths, including his promotional zeal and his closeness with the city\u2019s business community, into weaknesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They are even targeting the State of the City speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Democrats on the City Council last week ordered up an inquiry into the speech\u2019s corporate backers and accused McCann of cozying up to monied interests to promote his re-election.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After surviving more than two decades in city leadership, McCann now finds himself in the odd position of presiding over a city on an upswing \u2013 and fighting for his political survival.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked about the sudden shift in political terrain, McCann brushed off his critics and said he was confident of his record in city leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Citing recent bayfront redevelopment projects, a series of park overhauls in lower-income neighborhoods, new affordable housing developments and a citywide reduction in homelessness, he said he has delivered results for all residents no matter their background or net worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and his wife Myllissa McCann attend the opening of the The Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center on May 15, 2025, in Chula Vista. \/ Photo by Vito di Stefano for Voice of San Diego <\/p>\n
\u201cAs the son of a single mother who grew up in the older parts of Chula Vista, I\u2019ve had a great concern for ensuring we bring new infrastructure and home[-buying] opportunities,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPetty critics can try to rewrite history, but the record is clear. I consistently advocated for these projects, worked to build support and helped move them forward when others doubted they could happen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McCann has been preparing for his re-election campaign since last summer, when he filed to begin collecting campaign donations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For months, political observers waited for a challenger to materialize. None did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a March candidate filing deadline neared, politicos marveled that McCann appeared headed toward a guaranteed second term. Democratic insiders, who asked to remain unnamed to discuss internal party dynamics, said no one entered the race because no one thought they could beat McCann.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Behind the scenes, however, party leaders were growing increasingly frustrated that not a single South County city is currently led by a Democrat. Following national trends, majority-Latino voters in the region have tilted<\/a> rightwards<\/a> in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Accounts differ about whether party leaders made an effort to recruit candidates, or simply vetted volunteers who stepped forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n Regardless, Democrats ultimately settled on \u2013 or resigned themselves to, depending on who you talk to \u2013 Francisco Tamayo, a Chula Vista Elementary School District trustee with a checkered<\/a> background<\/a> but a strong conviction that McCann was vulnerable on two key issues: Immigration and the rising cost of living.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not governing for the majority of Chula Vistans,\u201d Tamayo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tamayo entered the race on March 6, the last day to register his candidacy. Since then, he has consolidated support from organized labor groups and hammered on two main criticisms of McCann.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor, Tamayo said, has refused to stand up for the city\u2019s immigrant community.\u00a0<\/p>\n And he favors wealthy donors and big-ticket development projects that ordinary residents can\u2019t afford.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need a mayor who is going to focus on working families,\u201d Tamayo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n McCann, an officer in the United States Naval Reserves, said his military service has prevented him from taking stands on city immigration policies, such as a beefed-up sanctuary ordinance<\/a> adopted earlier this year, that could contravene federal law \u2013 a claim some military experts have questioned<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n McCann said he actually does support immigrants in Chula Vista \u2013 provided they are law-abiding.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI voted for Chula Vista to become a welcoming city for legal immigrants,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cImmigrants and their families want violent criminals, rapists and pedophiles out of their neighborhood. I have made Chula Vista a safe city for all residents and that\u2019s why the Latino American Political Association has endorsed me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Latino American Political Association is a conservative-leaning Latino advocacy group.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked whether he supported a recent lawsuit filed by the city of El Cajon seeking to overturn California\u2019s immigration sanctuary laws, McCann said he did not<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely would not support a similar legal action in Chula Vista,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Chula Vista Police Department does an excellent job at keeping our city safe, and they accomplish that within the guidelines of state law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Tamayo and other critics said what they described as McCann\u2019s mixed messages on immigration are not good enough and could cost him the election.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, McCann lost a race for County Supervisor in part because he struggled to articulate a clear response to a high-profile immigration raid in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego.\u00a0<\/p>\n Until the raid, a political consultant who worked on the race said McCann actually led in the polls. Then McCann stayed silent while his Democratic rival, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, seized on the raid and made it a galvanizing issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aguirre went on to win by nine points.\u00a0<\/p>\n McCann said his record of success on bread-and-butter issues mattered more to voters than ginned-up attacks from opponents who have no accomplishments of their own to run on.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though he lost to Aguirre in the Supervisor race, McCann actually carried the Chula Vista vote by a slight margin, according to an analysis of precinct results<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy opponent has done nothing but drive the [Chula Vista Elementary School District] into the ground, voting to lay off 41 classroom teachers just this past month and creating what he calls an \u2018intentional $33 million deficit<\/a>,\u2019\u201d McCann said of Tamayo.\u00a0<\/p>\n In contrast, said McCann, Chula Vista has prospered under his leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city is currently in the process of finalizing a budget<\/a> for next year that includes rising revenues in most categories, a modest rise in expenses and \u2013 in a notable contrast with surrounding cities \u2013 no cuts and no raids on the city\u2019s reserves.\u00a0<\/p>\n For a city its size \u2013 283,000 residents, according to the California Department of Finance \u2013 Chula Vista is festooned with large-scale construction projects, ranging from new subdivisions and a four-story library on the city\u2019s east side to luxury high rises, office complexes and revamped parks along the bayfront.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a year when many California cities, especially along the coast, lost population, Chula Vista gained more than 1,000 new residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked to name his most significant accomplishments as mayor, McCann suggested meeting a reporter at Citrus Bay, a new housing development nearing completion in a rapidly evolving<\/a> part of Chula Vista\u2019s lower-income historic core.\u00a0<\/p>\n The development features 244 for-sale townhomes next door to the Chula Vista Center, an aging central-city mall that itself is in the early stages of a full-scale makeover.\u00a0<\/p>\n Walking past rows of neatly kept three-story homes, McCann said developers initially wanted Citrus Bay, built on the site of a former Sears department store, to be high-rise rental apartments.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re more profitable,\u201d McCann said of apartments. \u201cBut I wanted to make sure we\u2019re prioritizing quality homeownership opportunities so we can provide the American Dream. I said, \u2018That\u2019s nice, but I won\u2019t support it unless it\u2019s home ownership.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Three-bedroom units in the development now sell for roughly $687,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though McCann technically has no more power over city policy than Chula Vista\u2019s other four city councilmembers, he said he tries to use his mayoral bully pulpit to set a tone of pragmatism, cooperation and small-d democratic openness to all people and all ideas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI want to hear from people,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m very open.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In practice, McCann has focused much of his time in office on moving large-scale development projects forward, promoting the police and fire departments and advocating for a stricter approach to homelessness that includes a stiff no-camping ordinance and a city shelter that requires residents to work on achieving sobriety and self-sufficiency.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, the number of unsheltered people in Chula Vista declined by nearly 25 percent, according to the latest countywide homelessness survey<\/a>. Other cities in the South County region saw their homeless populations rise.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cChula Vista has become a regional leader in getting people off the streets,\u201d McCann said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Crime also has declined during McCann\u2019s mayoral tenure.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though Chula Vista is not a national crime-rate standout for a city its size, as McCann frequently claims (it\u2019s about in the middle of the pack among similarly sized California cities, according to FBI crime reporting data<\/a>), all major violent crimes declined since 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under ordinary circumstances, economic growth coupled with falling crime and homelessness would spell good news for an incumbent seeking re-election.\u00a0<\/p>\n Democrats said they believe this year is different. Even McCann\u2019s City Council colleagues have begun piling on against him, voicing publicly complaints they once expressed only privately and seeking to chip away at what they said is the mayor\u2019s carefully cultivated public persona.\u00a0<\/p>\n City Councilmember Michael Inzunza, who has sparred with McCann on the Council dais, was especially harsh.\u00a0<\/p>\n McCann, he said, is a far more calculating and ruthless politician than his sunny public demeanor suggests. He exaggerates his accomplishments, takes credit for other people\u2019s work and \u201chas a reputation for throwing people under the bus when he doesn\u2019t get his way,\u201d Inzunza said.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/vito-distefano-6-23-25-21-1024x684.jpg\")
County supervisor candidates Chula Vista Mayor John McCann (left) and Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre (right) participate in a debate at The STEAM Academy at La Presa auditorium in Spring Valley on Monday, June 23, 2025. \/ Photo by Vito di Stefano for Voice of San Diego<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Chula-Vista_0018-1024x683.jpg\")
A residential community called Citrus Bay in Chula Vista on July 10, 2025. The project includes 244 new townhomes. \/ Ariana Drehsler for Voice of San Diego<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778757380_745_vito-di-stefano-4-28-26-28-1024x684.jpg\")
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann after his State of the City address at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. \/ Vito Di Stefano for Voice of San Diego<\/p>\n