Candidates launch campaigns for City Council District 4 seat

SAN DIEGO — The special election race to replace Monica Montgomery Steppe on the San Diego City Council is already underway, with the first candidates confirming their intention to run.

Chia Warren-Darby, director of appointments and board commissions for Mayor Todd Gloria, and local activist Shane Harris will be vying for the seat after Montgomery Steppe resigns on Dec. 5 to assume her new role on the San Diego Board of Supervisors.

Both made their campaigns for the District 4 seat public in updates on X, formerly Twitter, several days after the City Council confirmed that a special election will be held alongside the California Presidential Primary on Tuesday, Mar. 5.

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Warren-Darby was the first to file paperwork following the vote on Nov. 15, according to city documents, launching an official campaign website shortly after. Her X profile has also been updated with the description “City Council D4 Candidate.”

“While the foundation has been laid, there is still much work to do to ensure that Council District 4 reflects the hopes and dreams of its residents,” she said of her campaign on her website. “Achieving these priorities may seem arduous, but by enhancing the partnership between constituents and City Hall, building effective communication coupled with true transparency, we can continue transforming the district into something extraordinary.”

Meanwhile, Harris, who alluded to a possible campaign earlier this month, made a reference on social media to his campaign in a post on X over the weekend, sharing a visit he made to an Encanto restaurant on Small Business Saturday.

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“One of my top priorities as the next Councilmember of the fourth district will be to bring a business renaissance to our community,” a portion of the post read.

He has yet to launch an official campaign website, although he has mentioned other goals of his should he be elected — like fostering diversity in a theoretical district office staff — in subsequent posts.

According to city documents, two additional candidates have filed the initial paperwork to run in the special election over the last two weeks: Montgomery Steppe’s current chief of staff, Henry Foster III, and legislative staffer Tylisa Suseberry.

Suseberry previously ran for the District 4 city council seat in 2022, but ultimately lost in the primary.

All potential candidates for the District 4 seat, including Harris and Warren-Darby, will still need to qualify by gathering at least 120 signatures of voters in the district before Dec. 14 to make it onto next year’s ballot.

The district is comprised of neighborhoods in southeastern San Diego, including Paradise Hills, Bay Terraces, Mountain View, Chollas View, Emerald Hills, Ridgeview/Webster, Jamacha Lomita, Skyline, Alta Vista and Encanto.

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