City Council candidates competing for seats include incumbents Judy Ritter and Bob Campbell, title officer Nick Ashcraft, office manager and activist Tina Jillings and podiatrist Michael "Doc" Dinnel.

Proposition L, a proposed sales tax increase, would build a new civic center, two fire stations, a 32-acre park with sports fields and a new stagehouse at Moonlight Amphitheater.

With Escondido's recent approval of an ordinance that prohibits landlords from renting to illegal immigrants, it's clear illegal immigration is the city's most widely discussed election issue.

A mayoral race pits incumbent Lori Holt Pfeiler against former City Councilman Tom D'Agosta.

Seven candidates are competing for two open seats on the City Council. Those in the running include bank chief financial officer Darol Caster; public relations business owner Dick Daniels; downtown coffee shop owner Olga Diaz; programmer/analyst/systems engineer and business owner and manager Elizabeth Gabrych; alternative-education bilingual assistant Carmen Miranda; president and chief executive of the Citizen's Development Corp. Erik Richard; and incumbent Marie Waldron. Councilman Ron Newman is not seeking re-election.

In Carlsbad, where the population is predominately white, illegal immigration issues are taking a back seat, if any, to the preservation of the strawberry and flower-growing fields.

"I haven't had one person call me on (illegal immigration), and it's been brought up just once in a forum," said City Councilman Matt Hall.

Two mayoral candidates, William Griffith and Glenn Bernard, are hoping to win the seat of 36-year incumbent Claude "Bud" Lewis. Griffith, like Lewis when he took over duties, is a teacher at Carlsbad High. A former congressional candidate who lost a bid in the 2000 Republican primary and as an independent in the special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Griffith brought the issue of illegal immigration into the race. Bernard is a real estate broker and inventor of a game called soccer-golf.

City Council candidates include incumbents Matt Hall and Mark Packard, Roland Chicas and two organizers of Concerned Citizens of Carlsbad: Ronald Alvarez and Dustin Johnston.

Myriad election issues include a debate over the agricultural fields that line Cannon Road east of Interstate 5 and whether voters agree with a city proposition (Proposition D) to save them as open space, or with a citizens initiative (Proposition E) to preserve them as agricultural; an ocean-water desalinization plant proposed to be built on the grounds of the Encina Power Station by Poseidon Resources Inc.; and the city's Growth Management Plan.

A $198 million bond, Proposition P, calls for the reconstruction of Carlsbad High, construction of a new high school and upgrades to four elementary campuses and one middle school in the Carlsbad Unified School District.

In San Marcos, 12-year Mayor F.H. "Corky" Smith and his challenger, City Councilman and Delta Air Lines pilot Jim Desmond, are competing in the mayoral race.

Desmond calls for younger leadership with families in mind and wants to start an annual summit between the city and Cal State San Marcos. Smith contends he is in great health and said he could run again in four years for his final term. Both candidates stress controlled growth of the rapidly expanding city.

In the City Council race, incumbent Mike Preston is running along with Planning Commission Chairman Dean Nelson; planning commissioner Chris Orlando, business owner Wally Simpson; print shop owner Stephen Tomacelli; retired businesswoman Darby Sherwood; and baseball agent Gary Sloan. Councilwoman Pia Harris-Ebert is not running for re-election.

Issues vary, without one standing out above the others, but the extension of Las Posas Road, the creation of a downtown, a research park near Cal State San Marcos and Palomar Station, a housing project in an industrial area, have been topics of conversation surrounding the election.

Proposition K, a salary-increase ballot measure, could bump the mayor and city council members' salaries from $886 a month to $1,500.

If passed by a majority 55 percent of the vote, Proposition M, a $694 million bond, would expand and renovate Palomar College and open satellite campuses in Fallbrook and the Poway/Peñasquitos area.

Two City Council seats are open in Oceanside, with incumbents Shari Mackin and Rocky Chavez running against former planning commissioner, businessman and retired Army lieutenant colonel George Barrante; retired educator George McNeil; retired state supervisor Michael Lucas; retired police sergeant C.C. Sanders; and teacher and former chamber of commerce president Jerome "Jerry" Kern.

Issues stirring debate include the Oceanside Municipal Airport's future, the long-proposed interchange at Rancho del Oro Drive and state Route 78, whether the city should sell the Marina Towers property to condominium owners and the city's plan to contribute $27 million to help build a 336-room Westin resort across from the pier.

A bond measure on the November ballot will let voters decide for a second time whether to renovate and expand Tri-City Medical Center. Proposition T is the revised version of Proposition F, a $596 million bond measure defeated June 6 by about 400 votes.

In the race for the 50th Congressional District, Republican Brian Bilbray is pushing immigration as his chief concern.

Bilbray won the seat in June, defeating Democrat Francine Busby by slightly more than 4.5 percentage points.

Also on the ballot are Libertarian Paul King and Miriam Clark of the Peace & Freedom Party.