San Diego (special) -- You barely heard or read Gary Rotto's name mentioned by the daily news media in their coverage of the special election in San Diego's 6th Council District. During the campaign, Rotto didn't attract the attention some of the other candidates did; on election day, he finished sixth in a field of 11 candidates.

Rotto had to give up his secure job as regional director of the American
Jewish Committee to make the run, and additionally he put thousands of
dollars of his personal savings into his dream. On such evidence, some
might say that Rotto was a big loser; but I would argue that on a far more
important level, he was one of the biggest winners of the night.

The general news media spent most of their time on the evening of
Tuesday, April 17, in downtown San Diego, far from the 6th District, but
that was where the two eventual runoff contenders--Steve Danon and
Donna Frye--had set up their election night headquarters. Danon, who had
taken a leave of absence from his job as an aide to county Supervisor Ron
Roberts, was at Downtown Johnny Brown's, while Frye, who will face him
in a runoff June 5, was in Golden Hall surrounded by the forces of
organized labor, which gave her heavy backing.

Where was Rotto at that time? He was in Clairemont, in the 6th District,
in the upstairs portion of Sheila's Cafe, one of the few kosher restaurants
in the city of San Diego. His election night choice was symbolic of the
loyalties that Rotto had demonstrated throughout the campaign. As a
member of the Serra Mesa Planning Group, who knows the problems
constituents face in daily life, Rotto had pushed for expanded transit and
better traffic circulation to help people get to work, leaving other
candidates to pontificate upon issues like the economy and how to solve
the state's electricity crisis. 

Similarly, as a longtime advocate for Jewish communal concerns--having
worked for the United Jewish Federation organizations in Long Beach and
Los Angeles over a decade ago before moving to San Diego -- Rotto had
spoken forthrightly about his belief that all people, be they Jews,
Muslims, Baha'i, Buddhist, Confucianist, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant,
Roman Catholic or any other of the profusion of religious groups in the 6th
District, are better off if government stays entirely neutral in religious
matters. He warned that that the city will face the issue increasingly as
President George W. Bush goes forward with his plan to involved faith-
based charities in the delivery of public services.

There was another way that Rotto showed his admirable trait of loyalty. 
The special election had been called because the previous incumbent,
Councilwoman Valerie Stallings, had been forced to resign her seat in a
plea bargain in which she also pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges
concerning her financial dealings with the San Diego Padres, an
organization with major ballpark business dealings before the city.

While expressing regret over the misdeeds of the councilwoman, Rotto
stressed the good service that Stallings had given to her constituents. As
one who had once worked for Stallings before moving on to the Assembly
staff of Denise Ducheny and later to the American Jewish Committee
position, Rotto promised to avoid the conflicts-of-interest in which
Stallings became ensnared, but to follow her example when it came to
being a council member who identified with the concerns of people in a
working class district. 

But election night totals showed Rotto garnering only 1,226 votes
compared to 4,843 for Danon; 4,740 for Frye; 3,480 for Michael Pallamary;
1,466 for Peter Navarro, and 1,375 for Kim Cox. Behind Rotto were Larry
L. Murray with 560 votes, Tom Switzer with 442, Donald Mayes with 295
and Rick Richard with 139. The votes for write-in candidate Jim Morrison
were not scheduled to be counted until the following Friday.

So on what basis do I say that Rotto was one of the big winners of the
night? You should have seen the 20 people or so who stuck with Rotto
throughout the evening. First of all, there was his family: his father
Daniel, who served as treasurer for the campaign, and mother Helene; his
wife, Kathleen, and daughter, Kelila, dressed up in a Rotto t-shirt for
the occasion. 

Even though the odds against Rotto had been long, even though their 
savings would be diminished, Rotto's entire family had stood
uncomplainingly behind him all the way. They were proud of him, proud of
his principles, and proud of his willingness to emphasize in a campaign
the issues in which he believed. As Rotto is loyal man, so are others loyal
to him.

His election night group included other members of the Jewish community,
including Joan Dean, Jean Gill, Judy Hahn and Shana Starkand; the
campaign's consultant Bob Glaser and manager Marc Schaefer, and
constituents from other religious and ethnic communities--some of whom
never before had been inside a kosher restaurant. 

A laptop computer hooked up to the Registrar of Voters website kept the
group abreast of the vote tallies, and from early on it was apparent that
Rotto would not make the runoff. Yet the group stayed with Rotto, even
beyond the time that the semi-official returns were completed.

To have a family who supports you wholeheartedly, and friends who want
to be with you through defeats, as well as victories -- how many of us can
say that we are so blessed? Yes, Rotto is a winner. The more that
candidates like Rotto can be persuaded to leave the cheering sections and
to enter what Theodore Roosevelt once described as "the arena," the
better off our politics will be.