Sobek Wins Easily in Menifee City Council Race

Lesa Sobek has not been labeled the "people's candidate," but the results of Tuesday's election for the District 3 seat on the Menifee City Council seem to indicate that's just what she is in the eyes of the voters.

Sobek -- a city Planning Commissioner and the personal choice of the late Wallace Edgerton to fill the last year of his council seat -- won an easy victory over three opponents. She received over 48 percent of the 1,432 votes cast, earning 689 votes -- more than twice that of the second-place finisher, Neil Winter (304 votes, 21.23 percent).

The two candidates with arguably the most powerful backing and/or political experience finished at the bottom when final results were announced late Tuesday night. Local businessman Stu Blaze, backed by the Riverside Sheriffs Association, finished third with 268 votes (18.72 percent). Darcy Kuenzi, who served on the City Council from its inception in 2008 through 2012, finished last in her bid to return to the council with 171 votes (11.94 percent).

Both Blaze and Kuenzi were beaten out by a man who spent virtually nothing on advertising, marketing or campaign signs. Winter, a candidate with no political experience who spent his days waving to motorists from local street corners, seemed to prove his point as a "people's candidate" -- although not to the extent Sobek did.

Sobek, 57, has been a Menifee resident since 1989 and has been involved in community activities for much of the time. She has been a driving force behind Menifee's annual "Menifee Better Together" event, in which residents work together to perform clean-up and maintenance at local residences and parks. She was instrumental in establishing the city's Military Banner Program. And in 2013, mayor Scott Mann appointed her to the Planning Commission.

She has sometimes gone against the majority in votes regarding development, citing her opinions on what is best for the city and relying on feedback from residents. A flier circulating in the last week apparently was designed to derail her campaign, saying her decisions were adversely affected by her "personal beliefs."

Do the election results show that Sobek's beliefs represent the kind of qualities Menifee voters would like to see in city officials? Asked that question Tuesday night, Sobek had this response:

"It shows that the people want someone who knows the people; someone who's been involved and cares about people," Sobek said. "In talking to people in the community, they say they want someone who's honest and has integrity. I think that's the difference between me and a couple of the other candidates. I'm about the community, not about me."

Sobek admitted that the public support of Edgerton in his dying days didn't hurt.

"In walking the district and talking to people, I heard that a lot of people liked and respected Wally," Sobek said. "They seemed to like that I went and knocked on a lot of doors like he did."

Sobek estimates that she knocked on 2,000 doors in recent weeks. Having been up since 5 a.m. on Tuesday, she admitted she was "really tired" by about 10 p.m.

"To move the city forwward, we need to work as a team," she said. "We've got some critical decisions to make. We can agree to disagree, but we have to work together to get things done."