STOCKTON — Friday marks just under ten weeks to Election Day, and the race for Stockton mayor is packing a new punch.
In the March primary, San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti took the lead with more than 13,000 votes. Longtime educator and former Vice Mayor Christina Fugazi came in second with just over 9,000 votes.
Stockton residents will decide who their next mayor will be on Nov. 5, in the 2024 general election.
Current Mayor Kevin Lincoln chose not to run for re-election as he makes a bid for Congress.
Entering the race, not the ring: Mike Tyson for Tom Patti
Friday night, a true heavyweight hit the campaign trail to convince the Stockton community to vote for Tom Patti: legendary boxer Mike Tyson.
"Because he's the man for the job. Stockton needs him," Tyson said in a sit-down interview with CBS13.
Tyson said he's been to Stockton a handful of times over the years and in the past, friends discouraged him from coming.
"A friend, he said, 'Mike, please don't go there. Don't go to Stockton. It's dangerous,' " Tyson said. "I came down here and it's a wonderful place. He's the man for the job to clean this place up."
Patti's campaign hosted a Legends of Boxing event at the Bob Hope Theatre Friday night, featuring "Iron" Mike and Yaqui Lopez.
"I wouldn't waste my time. That's the only thing we never get back, is time. I don't waste any of it. I'm here for a reason," Tyson said.
Patti and Tyson have been friends since they were teenagers. The pair lived together when they were both coached by boxing legend Cus D'Amato in New York.
"In the end, five years later, Mike and I were the last fighters to live and train with this legendary trainer," Patti said.
"Cause we seen so many people come and go," Tyson added.
"But you know what? At 3 or 4 a.m., I'd hear Mike training above me. He wanted it that much more. It taught me a great lesson about putting in the extra effort. That no matter what we do, what can we do different, better or more of it," Patti said.
That's the fight Patti said he plans to bring to the city of Stockton.
He added that he doesn't think he would even be running for office today if it weren't for a nudge from Tyson years back.
"I honestly would not have gotten into politics if Mike didn't first say, 'You need to get involved. Make a difference,' " Patti said.
"He was born for the job. He's just born for it," Tyson added.
Patti said that Stockton's top issue is "hands down" homelessness.
"One of the main motivations for me to be the next Stockton city mayor is to take our model of success in the county and roll it into the city. In San Joaquin County, we have no encampments," Patti said.
Patti is currently serving on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.
"We're collaborating and putting together a large umbrella over San Joaquin County for support services. The city will join us and I want to be the champion of that and bridge the city and the county from not working together, from finger-pointing. We can actually work together and accomplish a common goal," Patti said. "Listen, I don't care. Democrat, Republican, I'm Stocktonian. That's my party. Stocktonian."
I asked Tyson, what would make Patti a good mayor?
"First is his compassion and care for the community. He wants the best for the community," Tyson said.
Fugazi fights for top spot in mayor's race
While her opponent is currently serving in a county leadership position, Christina Fugazi said her past experience serving the city of Stockton gives her a leg up in the race for mayor.
Fugazi has served on the Stockton City Council, including as vice mayor, and on the city's planning commission.
"In terms of process, policy and skill at the city level, I think that I have the most experience of anybody out there," Fugazi said.
She is currently assistant principal at Stagg High School and has 30 years of experience in education that she said would shape her mayorship.
"Education is the perfect training ground," Fugazi said. "I can't be my best unless I'm helping others be their best, and that's what I do with kids every day."
Fugazi said that what she sees every day in her school is that kids are no longer "allowed to be kids" in Stockton due to growing up around a significant level of crime in their communities.
As mayor, she would want to jump-start new youth programming and recreation in the city.
"We have really little for our kids and parents are struggling, you know? What can I take my children to? Where can they continue to be a child and not have to deal with adult issues? We need to have more of that," Fugazi said. "We have more children now that have anxiety issues than we have ever had before. They don't have the coping skills. They are overcoming things at home many times as well."
She believes Stockton's biggest problem is public safety and wants to better invest in the city's understaffed police force.
"I expect our officers to have all the tools necessary in order to do their job," Fugazi said. "Why aren't we eliminating these obstacles to really address the problems we are having?"
Fugazi, on the topic of homelessness, added that solutions to help address the problem discussed while she was on the council still have not happened years later.
"We talked about low barrier shelters, no barrier shelters and we put funds toward that, and we don't have anything to show for it. We've tried and it hasn't happened. We need to do a better job at that," Fugazi said.
Fugazi said that she doesn't need all the bells and whistles in her campaign, believing her reputation in both school halls and city hall stands alone.
"They know I'm on the front lines. I'm on the ground level, and I will work until I can't work anymore. In the end, we want to make sure the people of this city win," Fugazi said. "We work for them. We don't work for ourselves. We don't work for special interest. We don't work for the one-percenters. We work for all the people that live in the city of Stockton."
