Dan Smith Diaz

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Dan Smith Diaz

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

ASU, 1987

Personal

Birthplace

Phoenix, Ariz.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Campaign Instagram

Dan Smith Diaz ran in a special election for Chula Vista City Attorney in California. He lost in the special general election on November 7, 2023.

Smith Diaz completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Dan Smith Diaz was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He earned a bachelor's degree from the ASU in 1987. His career experience includes working as an attorney. Smith Diaz has been affiliated with the California Bar Association and the Arizona Bar Association.

Elections

2023

See also: City elections in Chula Vista, California (2023-2024)

General runoff election

Special general runoff election for Chula Vista City Attorney

Marco Verdugo defeated Bart Miesfeld in the special general runoff election for Chula Vista City Attorney on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marco Verdugo (Nonpartisan)	58.5	22,862
		Bart Miesfeld (Nonpartisan)	41.5	16,213

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 39,075
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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General election

Special general election for Chula Vista City Attorney

Marco Verdugo and Bart Miesfeld advanced to a runoff. They defeated Dan Smith Diaz in the special general election for Chula Vista City Attorney on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Marco Verdugo (Nonpartisan)	39.0	9,733
✔		Bart Miesfeld (Nonpartisan)	37.8	9,430
		Dan Smith Diaz (Nonpartisan)	23.2	5,783

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,946
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Smith Diaz in this election.

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dan Smith Diaz completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Smith Diaz's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

33 years experience and 20 years in Chula Vista My wife Layla Villegas and I raised our 3 here. Runner-up by fraction last election cost 2.5 million special election. 3 issues Harborside Park,parent's rights and safety. No political favors.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Last election was less than .6 pt. from winning because voters know I do not owe poitical elites favors so 50% +1 = victory
• Harborside park, Surplus Land Act appears ignored by Current Council and must be legal or suffer legal consequences
• I am a lacal who do not want City of San Diego values incorporated in Chula Vista and I did not just move here recently to get elected.

Community Question Featured local question

Did the COVID-19 pandemic change your approach to local policy issues? If so, please give us an example. If not, why?

Yes. The Federal Mandate

Community Question Featured local question

Do you believe crime rates are changing? Where do you get your crime rate data from? Would you make any changes to existing public safety policy?

N/A to City Attorney

Community Question Featured local question

Do you think the downtown area is healthy? What is your definition of a healthy downtown? What changes, if any, would you like to make?

Getting there. Keep doing what we are doing.

Community Question Featured local question

How important is it to involve residents in the government’s decision-making process? What plans do you have regarding resident involvement in this process?

Citizens have the right to be heard by their elective representative.

Community Question Featured local question

How should record requests from the public be handled? Do you have any policies around transparency and accountability you want to enact?

Surplus Land Act should be followed.

Community Question Featured local question

How would you address crime and public safety? Do you have a different stance than current city council policy?

Meet on a regular basis with all agencies.

Community Question Featured local question

How would you balance the needs and desires of existing business and housing communities with new development? Would you take gentrification and displacement into consideration when planning neighborhood development?

Yes, the balance should be a community decision.

Community Question Featured local question

How would you set priorities and develop plans in a way that will reflect community values and goals?

My priority is transparency so the citizens have a say in government.

Community Question Featured local question

What do you think about the city's current approach to public safety? Would you take any different positions?

City Attorney cannot affect change unless it violates 4th amendment or other Constitutional rights.

Community Question Featured local question

What do you think about the city's environmental health? Would you make any changes to current policy?

Green Energy is good but must be measured in implementation.

Community Question Featured local question

What plans do you have regarding infrastructure?

Not the City Attorney's job.

Community Question Featured local question

What plans do you have regarding the police department? Would you make any changes from current policy?

Be responsible and fair. All I can to create a better relationship with community.

Community Question Featured local question

What policies would you have implemented in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic? Why did you select those policies?

Protect the elderly and those with conditions, however, let the children be children.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about the Brown Act which guarantees that the citizens have transparency and are allowed to be informed about the votes by City Council that will change Chula Vista forever. I believe that the retired political elites may only support policies that benefit their personal wealth and that of their donors. We need a City Attorney that will challenge and prosecute politicians that break the law and the past city attorneys have failed to have the guts to follow through when politicians abuse public trust and that goes back over 20 years. It is time for a City Attorney that will fight to uphold the law.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

Enforce the Law

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Ulysses S. Grant

18th U.S. President

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

To Kill a Mockingbird

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Character to uphold the law.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

My diverse background and a fierce and respected trial lawyer for 33 years not to mention the son of Judge Ralph G. Smith , Jr. and son of my mother, a native of Puerto Rico.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Uphold the law.

What legacy would you like to leave?

A legacy to contribute to society as a honest lawyer that believe in free speech and civil discourse.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I was broke my leg motocross racing and broke my femur when I was 17.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Digging out ditches for a water line in Arizona when I was 12 years old for 6 months. I was a dishwasher, busboy, real estate salesman, ski instructor, truck driver, real estate broker, motorcycle dealership manager, and law clerk, lawyer, pedicab business owner, and supervising attorney for San Diego Defenders, APC

What is your favorite book? Why?

Perelandra - C.S. Lewis

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

nope

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Every Picture Tells a Story
Rod Stewart

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

As a child, I was obviously brown and Puerto Rican, but that did not stop me. I was shot in the leg at 11 years, broke my femur at 17 and continued to compete in motorcycle racing through injury. As a Federal Defender, it was a struggle to be the underdog in every case, yet fight for the Constitutional rights of all my client. It was not for me to judge and my father the judge told me in my times of struggles. Never let them see you sweat.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

To prosecute council violations without fear.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

It is always beneficial if it has not taught you to be afraid of enforcing the law.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

The skill of being a litigator that has jury trial experience and the guts to challenge the status quo.

Tell us your favorite joke.

When I was 17 I thought my old man such a fool I could hardly stand to be around him, now that I am 21, I am amazed at what the old man has learned in 4 years!
Mark Twain

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

LAPA

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.

See also

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Chula Vista City Attorney

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