Martial artist wins national tournament

Taekwondo black belt Leslie Soltero won gold during a youth tournament held over the weekend in Cancun, Quintana Roo.

She defeated her rival in the third round of the finals.

Soltero won the second gold for the state in the championship.

Winners will be part of the Mexican team that will fight for a spot in the Pan American Youth Games.

Soltero was part of Baja California’s under-20 black belt team.

The tournament was organized by the Mexican Federation of Taekwondo.

LOS ANGELES ( AP) — Republican John Cox formally opened his campaign for California governor Monday with a TV ad depicting his leading GOP rival as a political twin of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and promising to work for lower housing costs and new jobs.

The 30-second ad airing statewide marks the official kickoff of his second campaign for the state’s top job, after Cox finished behind Newsom in their 2018 matchup.

“I’m a businessman, not a politician,” Cox says in the ad, looking directly into the camera. “It’s time for a fresh start.”

Cox will be a candidate in the proposed recall election that threatens to oust Newsom this year, if it qualifies for the ballot, or will run against Newsom when he is expected to seek a second term in 2022. Cox filed paperwork with the state last week to establish a committee to raise money.

Cox’s main target in the ad is another Republican, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who entered the race last week.

The ad faults Faulconer for San Diego’s decision to enter into a $127 million lease-to-own deal for office space that later turned out to be essentially unusable because of problems with asbestos, plumbing, elevators, fire alarms and other systems.

The ad pairs a description of San Diego’s soured real estate deal with a reference to Newsom’s decision during the coronavirus pandemic to dine out with friends and lobbyists at an opulent Napa Valley restaurant, after telling residents to stay home and avoid social gatherings.

“Had enough of this?” Cox asks, suggesting his two competitors share a common bond in bad judgment and incompetence.

A statement from Faulconer’s campaign depicted Cox as a perennial candidate with a long string of losses behind him.

Starting in 2000, Cox ran for the U. S. House and twice for the U. S. Senate in Illinois, but fell short in crowded Republican primaries. He also ran a largely unnoticed campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

The statement from Faulconer’s campaign did not address the San Diego real estate deal.

“John Cox needs a fresh start after ... repeatedly losing in landslide elections,” Stephen Puetz,