Costa Mesa council candidate Mercurio drops out of race
Eastside resident Julie Mercurio has announced she is ending her campaign for Costa Mesa City Council.
She made her intentions known in a post on Costa Mesa Public Square, a community Facebook page of which she is administrator.
“My biggest disappointment, after getting past the fear of making this announcement, is the thought that I am letting you down,” she wrote in the post on Friday. “It is a difficult thought to process, yet one that I will have to live with.”
Mercurio, who officially announced her council bid in early May, called the world of politics “a miserable slave to the forces of finance” and wrote that campaigns are “won by money, and not the kind of money you ask friends for.”
“Though my campaign got off to a great fundraising start, I simply don’t run in the kind of social circles that would garner the type of support necessary to cross the finish line a winner,” she wrote. “Most of my friends are working moms on a budget.”
Mercurio was not available for further comment Monday.
The longtime local resident had said one of the major goals of her campaign was to “return Costa Mesa to its family-oriented roots,” specifically by looking to increase open space and programs for younger children.
“I felt like I was a proxy for all of the voices in our community who longed for changes that included ideas that would continue the transition of Costa Mesa from a coastal afterthought to a clean, vibrant and safe city,” she wrote in her Facebook post.
She also thanked her supporters.
“You have no idea how much of an impact your words of encouragement have had on me,” she wrote. “Each text, message and/or phone call seemed to arrive at just the right time. I cannot thank you enough for your expressions of support.”
Though she’s ending her bid for City Council, Mercurio isn’t vanishing from the civic scene. In June, she was appointed to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission to fill the rest of a term that expires in February.
Mercurio’s departure from the council race leaves seven declared candidates still in the running, including Mayor Steve Mensinger and Councilwoman Sandy Genis, who are seeking reelection.
Others who have declared their intention to run are Mesa Verde residents Jay Humphrey and John Stephens, Eastside resident Lee Ramos, Al Melone, who lives in the State Streets, and Allan Mansoor, a former mayor and state legislator.
The seats occupied by Mensinger, Genis and Councilman Gary Monahan are up for election in November. Monahan is termed out.
