2024 Voter Guide

Vote Lives Over Guns.

Gun Violence Prevention Champions and Candidates

General Election: Local Races — Tuesday, November 5, 2024

(This page covers local races. For additional information on state and federal candidates, please visit Brady, Giffords, and Gun Sense Voter.)

County Races

Terra Lawson-Remer
San Diego County Board of Supervisors, District 3
GVP Champion

“While on the Board of Supervisors, I have successfully championed a landmark policy preventing the possession and distribution of illegal, unserialized ghost guns, an ordinance requiring all guns in homes be secured with a trigger lock or in locked containers, and passed a policy to authorize the County to explore lawsuits against gun manufacturers. Most recently, we enacted a new County of San Diego Gun Violence Reduction Work Plan, which includes 17 actions for the County to take over the next two years to protect against and prevent firearm violence.”

– Terra Lawson-Remer

SD4GVP is proud to name Terra Lawson-Remer as a Gun Violence Prevention Champion. A Champion is a higher level distinction reserved for the very few candidates whose work has been proactive and relentless.

To find out more about Terra Lawson-Remer and her campaign, visit terralawsonremer.com.

City Races – San Diego Mayor

Todd Gloria
Mayor of San Diego
GVP Champion

“As Mayor, it is and will continue to be one of my top priorities to keep San Diegans safe from gun violence and make our neighborhoods safer. In seeking to recruit a new police chief, I will ensure the winning candidate is well versed and committed to gun violence prevention, and to person-centered approaches to developing and strengthening relationships in our communities. It is critical to continue San Diego’s leadership in issuing Gun Violence Restraining Orders when someone is a danger to themselves or others.“

– Todd Gloria

SD4GVP is proud to name Todd Gloria as a Gun Violence Prevention Champion. A Champion is a higher-level distinction reserved for the very few candidates whose work has been proactive and relentless.

To find out more about Todd Gloria and his campaign, visit toddgloria.com.

City Races – San Diego

Marni von Wilpert
San Diego City Council, District 5
GVP Champion

“We must acknowledge the critical importance of proactively addressing gun violence by implementing effective prevention and intervention strategies. That is why I authored San Diego’s ghost gun ban and worked with San Diegans for Gun Violence Prevention to pass it into law, why I strongly support Gun Violence Restraining Orders, and have proposed that the city reform firearm procurement practices to ensure the City only does business with responsible firearms dealers.”

– Marni Von Wilpert

SD4GVP is proud to name Marni von Wilpert as a Gun Violence Prevention Champion. A Champion is a higher-level distinction reserved for the very few candidates whose work has been proactive and relentless.

To find out more about Marni von Wilpert and her campaign, visit marniforsandiego.com.

Sean Elo-Rivera
San Diego City Council, District 9
GVP Candidate

“We must position the City to better support young people and people in crisis. Among other initiatives, I advocated for the creation and funding of the City’s Office of Youth and Child Success, created the Housing Instability Prevention Program, and funded Youth Care drop-in centers and a violence intervention program called No Shots Fired.”

– Sean Elo-Rivera

SD4GVP is proud to name Sean Elo-Rivera as a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Sean Elo-Rivera and his campaign, visit seanelorivera.com.

Stephen Whitburn
San Diego City Council, District 3
GVP Candidate

“I have been proud to march with so many of my fellow San Diegans to call for gun reform. We must strengthen public safety with laws such as the City’s ghost gun ban, and also support violence prevention programs, including those that work with youth and young adults in our neighborhoods to transition them out of the system.“

– Stephen Whitburn

SD4GVP is proud to name Stephen Whitburn as a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Stephen Whitburn and his campaign, visit whitburnforcouncil.com.

Joe LaCava
San Diego City Council, District 1
GVP Candidate

“Safe gun storage is all of our responsibilities. Let’s protect our children by ensuring guns don’t fall into the wrong hands.“

– Joe LaCAva

SD4GVP is proud to name Joe LaCava as a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Joe LaCava and his campaign, visit https://www.joelacava.com

Heather Ferbert
San Diego City Attorney
GVP Candidate

“As City Attorney, I want to expand Your Safe Place, a family justice center, to make sure survivors of domestic violence have access to all the services needed to help them into a different situation. I also plan to continue the use of gun violence restraining orders, which not only have stopped countless suicides, but have been used to take firearms out of the hands of people where a judge deems them to be a threat to others, such as in cases of substance abuse, stalking, mass shooting threats, and serious mental health conditions.“

– Heather Ferbert

SD4GVP is proud to name Heather Ferbert as a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Heather Ferbert and her campaign, visit heatherferbert.com.

Brian Maienschein
San Diego City Attorney
GVP Candidate

“Mental health issues have been one of my top priorities while in the Assembly. I have supported expanded mental healthcare, and the establishment of 988, the Suicide Prevention hotline to provide 24/7 crisis intervention services. Removing access to firearms from those who are in crisis is an important part of suicide prevention. In the Assembly, I have supported efforts to expand gun violence restraining orders to allow for more individuals to petition the court, and authored a bill to expand educational efforts around both gun violence and domestic violence restraining orders.“

– Brian Maienschein

SD4GVP is proud to name Brian Maienschein as a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Brian Maienschein and his campaign, visit BrianMaienschein.com.

City Races – Carlsbad

Teresa Acosta
Carlsbad City Council, District 4
GVP Candidate

“I support educational campaigns about gun violence restraining orders, and have been a voice for the protection of our community members and city employees through the proper use of temporary civil restraining orders against harassment.“

– Teresa Acosta

SD4GVP is proud to name Teresa Acosta a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Acosta and her campaign, visit teresaacosta.org.

City Races – Chula Vista

Leticia Munguia
Chula Vista City Council, District 3
GVP Candidate

“My commitment to create change is grounded in my personal experiences, including growing up in a neighborhood with gun violence. I believe in education and outreach about safe firearm storage and suicide prevention.“

– Leticia Munguia

SD4GVP is proud to name Leticia Munguia a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Munguia and her campaign, visit voteleticiamunguia.com.

City Races – La Mesa

Nadia Farjood
Grossmont Healthcare District Zone 3
GVP Candidate

“I believe that gun violence is a public health issue that requires addressing root causes, including mental health issues, and non-violence and peace programming, such as that provided through the Tariq Khamisa Foundation.  Public education is critical to improving community safety, preventing gun-related deaths, and building a more informed community to proactively address gun violence.“

– Nadia Farjood

SD4GVP is proud to name Nadia Farjood a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Nadia Farjood and her campaign, visit nadiafarjood.com.

City Races – Lemon Grove

Seth Smith  
Lemon Grove City Council
GVP Candidate

“I advocate for the proper storage of firearms, to prevent unintentional shootings by children, guns being taken by children to use in school shootings, and firearm theft.” — Seth Smith

– Seth Smith

SD4GVP is proud to name Seth Smith a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Seth Smith and his campaign, visit votesethsmith.com. 

City Races – Solana Beach

Jewel Edson
Solana Beach City Council, District 3
GVP Candidate

“The suicide of a person close to me when I was young brought an early awareness of the danger posed by easy access to guns. I support educating the public on secure storage of firearms to prevent such suicide tragedies, as well as to protect against the theft of firearms which often end up used for criminal purposes.”

– Jewel Edson

To find out more about Jewel Edson and her campaign, visit https://www.facebook.com/jewel4citycouncil.

SD4GVP is proud to name Jewel Edson a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

City Races – Vista

Katie Melendez
Vista City Council, District 3
GVP Candidate

“I will advocate for education programs about suicide prevention and gun violence restraining orders, including the use of City communications and community engagement platforms.“

– Katie Melendez

SD4GVP is proud to name Katie Melendez a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Katie Melendez and her campaign, visit katiemelendezforvista.com.

Education Races – San Diego

Sabrina Bazzo
San Diego Unified School Board, District A
GVP Candidate

“I wholeheartedly support providing public funding for educational outreach about safe firearm storage laws. Additionally, I endorse the SD4GVP initiative for a Safe Firearm Storage Toolkit for Schools, and firmly believe in encouraging school districts to actively educate families on safe storage practices.“

– Sabrina Bazzo

SD4GVP is proud to name Sabrina Bazzo a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Bazzo and her campaign, visit bazzoforschoolboard.com.

Richard Barrera
San Diego Unified School Board, District D
GVP Candidate

“To reduce gun violence requires a multifaceted approach. During my years on the school board, we have taken many steps, including educating families about safe storage of firearms and improving security at our facilities. We have also dramatically increased anti-bullying and mental health support for students.“

– Richard Barrera

SD4GVP is proud to name Richard Barrera a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

Education Races – San Dieguito

Kevin Sabellico
San Dieguito Union School District, Area 4
GVP Candidate

“Every parent’s number one concern is their child’s safety. Our school district should help educate families about the benefits of safe storage, and evaluate its lockdown/shooter drills to prevent unnecessary trauma from those drills.“

– Kevin Sabellico

SD4GVP is proud to name Kevin Sabellico a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Kevin Sabellico and his campaign, visit kevinsabellico.org.

Education Races – Vista

Cipriano Vargas
Vista Unified School Board, Area 4
GVP Candidate

“We have a responsibility to provide safe learning environments to all of our students in VUSD where we have taken a pro-active approach to meet the mental health needs of our students. By partnering with mental health experts, expanding counseling services and teaching our youth to be problem solvers, we are are being pro-active and ensuring we reduce gun violence in our community.“

– Cipriano Vargas

SD4GVP is proud to name Cipriano Vargas a Gun Violence Prevention Candidate.

To find out more about Cipriano Vargas and his campaign, visit ciprianovargas.com.

The SD4GVP Gun Violence Prevention Candidate distinction is intended to identify local candidates who have expressed their willingness to lead with gun safety in mind.

The SD4GVP Gun Violence Prevention Champion distinction is intended to identify Gun Violence Prevention Candidates who have demonstrated exceptionally proactive, consistent and relentless public work to prevent gun violence. 

Multiple candidates in a single race can receive a distinction. Distinctions are non-partisan, as is legislation to stop gun violence. These distinctions are different from and should not be interpreted as endorsements. Read about all the qualifying candidates below, and scroll to the bottom to read about our evaluation process.

Our Evaluation Process

In the run-up to an election, SD4GVP invites candidates to fill out a questionnaire. It is an opportunity for them to describe their past and current work in gun violence prevention and related areas, and to outline their intention to work toward preventing gun violence in the future.

SD4GVP considers candidate responses, as well as policy positions outlined on their campaign website, their public statements, and actions they have initiated or supported that forward our mission to reduce gun violence. Sources include interviews with the media, public forums they have participated in going back several years, and social media posts.

Based on all of this information, SD4GVP designates qualifying candidates as either Gun Violence Prevention Candidates or Gun Violence Prevention Champions and lists them on the SD4GVP GVP Candidates Page.

Bookmark this page and check back for more candidates as the election draws near.