SAN DIEGO – Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith says he's running for San Diego city attorney to remove politics from the office.

But Goldsmith has no qualms about using politics to get into office.

Goldsmith, a Republican, has been touting a cadre of Democratic supporters as he faces off with Democrat and incumbent City Attorney Michael Aguirre in the Nov. 4 election. Several of Goldsmith's Democratic supporters gathered yesterday outside City Hall to help him kick his campaign into high gear.

“We are rallied behind the idea that the City Attorney's Office is about the law, not about partisanship, politics, personal agendas, vendettas, grandstanding,” Goldsmith said.

One of Goldsmith's campaign strategies has been to convince voters that the Democratic support base that Aguirre relied upon to win the 2004 election has eroded.

Aguirre said nothing could be further from the truth. The county Democratic Party and nearly a dozen Democratic clubs have endorsed him. He accused Goldsmith of simply trotting out his political enemies to take potshots.

“If he truly has adherence to his principles, why would he be reaching out to people that clearly don't have the same ideas that he does about basic values and principles?” Aguirre said. “If you're a guy that puts law above politics, you don't have to have a press conference with a bunch of former politicians.”

Goldsmith yesterday joined several Democrats – City Councilmen Ben Hueso and Scott Peters and former state Sens. Dede Alpert and Wadie Deddeh – as well as members of the city's largest labor union, the Municipal Employees Association. The union has endorsed Goldsmith after sparring with Aguirre for years over pension benefits.

Goldsmith defended his use of politicians to show his broad base of support.

“I'm proud of the support because a number of these folks worked with me in the state Legislature, which was partisan, and saw that I'm capable of not being partisan,” he said.

Most speakers said they believed Goldsmith would bring much-needed professionalism and competence to the office – a theme of his campaign.

Alpert, who served in the state Legislature with Goldsmith, said there are many issues on which the two don't agree but called him reasonable and thoughtful as a lawmaker.

“We're not here because we're Democrats. We're here because we're San Diegans,” Alpert said. “We care deeply about this city and its future. And we realize the best hope for this future is to have Jan Goldsmith as our city attorney.”

Aguirre has rankled many at City Hall in his four years in office, perhaps none more than Peters and Hueso. They have often criticized the timeliness and quality of Aguirre's legal work.

Peters ran against Aguirre in the June primary, finishing third and then endorsing Goldsmith.

“The citizens of San Diego deserve competent, professional and unbiased legal advice from their city attorney, and sadly, they have not received that from the current holder of this office,” Peters said.

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Craig Gustafson: (619) 293-1399; craig.gustafson@uniontrib.com