Controversial director losing in early results

Early election results show that Hector Gastelum is struggling to keep his seat on the Otay Water District board of directors.

The incumbent, who has repeatedly courted controversy by posting sexist and racist social media posts, is currently in second place in a four-person race. Former board member Jose Lopez currently has a slim lead, early results show.

Gastelum was pessimistic about his chances Tuesday evening.

“For me, I think it’s too big of a margin when it’s four candidates,” he said.

Three people decided to run against him this year. Early results show Lopez, a former Otay Water director, with a slim lead. The two other candidates, Michael Monaco and Patricia Mallen, are a distant third and fourth.

During his first term, Gastelum was publicly censured three times for vulgar social media posts that targeted the Muslim community, women and Black people. The district receives so many complaints about Gastelum’s posts that it has a 100-page document cataloging each controversial post.

Gastelum has become so unpopular in the Otay Water District that none of his fellow board members or the San Diego County Republican Party endorsed his re-election bid to represent Division Number 4.

Gastelum believes that lack of party endorsement came back to haunt him Tuesday.

“This shows the stupidity of the Republican Party,” he said. “When a candidate is not endorsed by their party, they are extremely handicapped.”

In the Division Number 2 race, incumbent Mitch Thompson has a very slim lead over challenger Ryan Keyes. Jerry Munoz is a distant third.

In the Division Number 5 contest, incumbent Mark Robak has a strong early lead against Nadia Kean-Ayub.

The district provides water, recycled water and sewer services to roughly 225,000 customers in a 125-square-mile area that includes eastern Chula Vista, Bonita, Jamul, Spring Valley, Rancho San Diego, and parts of El Cajon, La Mesa and Otay Mesa.

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