Written by Julianne Foster
Joe Leventhal is the Republican Party of San Diego County’s endorsed candidate for San Diego City Council District 5.
Leventhal graduated from UC San Diego after serving as president of the student body and running NCAA cross country. He then received his law degree with honors from the Georgetown University Law Center while he worked as a legislative aide on Capitol Hill. After law school, he served as an attorney in the White House as deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney. At only 25 years of age, Leventhal was the youngest deputy assistant on the vice president’s senior staff.
After his experience working in the White House, he chose to move back to San Diego, where he has remained for 15 years working as a lawyer running the San Diego office of a highly-respected national law firm with over 650 attorneys. He was elected to the firm’s Board of Directors and helps manage operations of the $270 million business by serving on the finance committee.
Since returning to San Diego, Leventhal has been a member of numerous local organizations such as the Rancho Bernardo Rotary, the Rancho Bernardo Business Association, and the Rancho Bernardo Community Foundation.
He is also endorsed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, former San Diego City Councilwoman Barabara Warden, San Diego City Councilmen Scott Sherman, Chris Cate and Mark Kersey, San Diego County Supervisors Greg Cox, Jim Desmond, Kristin Gaspar, and Dianne Jacob, the Downtown San Diego Partnership, San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore, and the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors.
From his time working as a lawyer and as the vice president’s deputy assistant, Leventhal has a breadth of knowledge on tackling the tough issues with thoughtful, decisive leadership. This is certainly a good quality to have when tackling challenging issues like homelessness, public safety, and road repair in San Diego. His additional service as an Ethics Commissioner has prepared him to serve San Diegans well on the City Council, as he takes pride in protecting San Diegans from government ethics violations.
Leventhal is concerned with improving the safety of students as they travel to and from schools. He also wants to face the challenges of mental health and addiction issues, which contribute immensely to the homelessness issue in San Diego. He supports the needs of police officers, firefighters and other first responders since they play such a vital role in our communities. Lastly, he wants to address desperately needed road maintenance and repairs using taxpayer dollars in the most efficient and accountable way possible to ensure that their hard-earned money is producing the results they expect and deserve.
For more information about Joe Leventhal’s campaign for San Diego City Council, visit JoeForSanDiego.com.
