SAN MARCOS — The political musical chairs are moving as Councilman Mike Sannella announced his campaign for mayor and newcomer Lindsey Smith announcer her run to replace Sannella in District 2.
The moves come after the moves of Mayor Rebecca Jones, who is running for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors District 5 seat and Councilman Ed Musgrove running for the State Senate District 40 seat to replace Sen. Brian Jones (R-San Diego), who is termed out.
Currently, there are no known challengers to Sannella and Smith for the 2026 election. Sannella current represents D2.
Jones, meanwhile, is running against Vista Mayor John Franklin, while Musgrove, a Republican, is facing off against Republican Kristie Bruce-Lane and Democrat San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert in the senate race.
Sanella, who has lived in San Marcos since 1996 and graduated from California State University San Marcos, said regardless of who is elected mayor, they will have huge shoes to fill in replacing Jones, who has led the city for the past eight years. He said in addition to Jones, previous councils and mayors have set solid foundation for the city as it’s become one of the premier areas in the region.
“I’ve learned a lot from working with her,” Sannella added. “I’ve learned the importance of staying focused on core city services. Certainly, that’s something I’ve strived to do when I got on council.”
Sannella was elected to the council in 2022 after serving eight years on the Vallecitos Water District Board of Directors. The water district is independent of the council and handles all things regarding water in the city.
He also served as a planning commissioner for several years and currently is the deputy mayor and vice chairman of the North County Transit District Board of Directors.
Regardless, he said he wants to contribute to the positive direction the city is heading. Sannella also received the endorsement of Jones and said whoever the next mayor is has a proven track record of staying on course with prioritizing core services and experience on serving on other boards.
“I’m honored to step up and ask the voters for their vote as mayor,” he explained. “Really, I just want to make sure that we have a nice quality of life, a safe city and continue to focus our investments on infrastructure.”
He said some of those examples include the completed upgrades to Discovery Street and the bridges in the Creek District. Sannella said one of the big projects coming in the next 12 months is improvements to the San Marcos Boulevard corridor to enhance traffic flow.
He said other issues include growth, traffic, continue a business-friendly environment and one opportunity is attracting entertainment options. Sannella said it’s important to keep residents local to enjoy a show, play or music as other North County cities, such as Oceanside, Escondido and Vista, have entertainment anchors with Frontwave Arena, the California Center for the Arts and Moonlight Amphitheater, respectively.
Additionally, the inclusion of between 30,000 to 40,000 students coming into the city to attend CSUSM and Palomar College are other reasons why public safety and entertainment options are crucial, he said.
“We’re known as San Parkos … and I think we need to continue,” Sannella added. “I don’t think we should take our foot off the gas pedal when it comes to those types of healthy, outdoor recreational spaces for our community.”
Smith, meanwhile, has lived in San Marcos for the past 10 years and also graduated from CSUSM in 2009. She worked in the private sector for 13 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom and then joined the San Elijo Hills Homeowners Association, where she’s served as president for the past six years.
Smith also started the San Elijo Hills Fire Safe Council, which focuses on education and emergency preparedness for the next wildfire event.
Her top priorities include public safety, especially when it comes to evacuation routes and preparedness in San Elijo, healthy neighborhoods, a strong local economy, connecting and engaging with residents and thoughtful growth.
“Having done the HOA for the past seven years, I feel it’s prepped me to take it to the next level with the city,” Smith explained. “I’ve been working with the city for the past several years to get projects done in San Elijo.”
Smith said the preparedness component stems from her residency in San Elijo and the 2014 Cocos fire, where it took residents nearly three hours to evacuate. Since then, the HOA has been a steward to help those residents with emergency planning, hardening homes and working with the city to ensure safety.
As for neighborhoods and engaging with residents, Smith said when people are connected and show up for each other, it strengthens those neighborhoods.
Growth, though, is one of the biggest issues across the city, North County and the county. She said it’s critical to make sure development continues to respect the character, is in line with the general and specific plans and doesn’t overwhelm infrastructure.
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