A candidate running against Stockton City Councilmember Michael Blower in the June primary has posted a campaign advertisement with a message critics are calling “homophobic.”
Joey Veltri is hoping to unseat Blower in the District 3 race, which also features challengers Jessica Toccoli and Stephanie Alfaro.
Veltri’s campaign sent an ad via text message to voters in the district criticizing Blower for a May 2025 vote approving a resolution to display the Pride flag annually during the first week of June.
The messaging indicated that Blower had joined Vice Mayor Jason Lee and District 4 Councilmember Mario Enríquez, both of whom are openly gay, in the vote last year.
“A Pride Flag will fly over Stockton City Hall for years to come as Michael Blower joins openly gay Councilmembers Jason Lee & Mario Enriquez to push an agenda that has no positive effect on making Stockton a Cleaner or Safer City. Please vote for anyone other than Michael Blower,” the ad reads.
In fact, the policy passed unanimously 6-0, with District 2 Councilmember Mariela Ponce absent.
Blower, a Republican, said voters deserve better than the rhetoric from Veltri over the Pride flag.
“Instead of focusing on Stockton’s real challenges of public safety, homelessness, economic growth and city services, my opponents have chosen to run hurtful and divisive attacks over this vote,” Blower said by phone from Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
Toccoli also sent a letter to District 3 voters criticizing Blower’s Pride flag vote, but she did not mention any other members of the council.
Lee, who represents District 6, said he was concerned that Veltri’s campaign singled out him and Enríquez, when all members voted in favor of the measure — part of the city’s official observance of Pride Month.
He called on Mayor Christina Fugazi and other councilmembers to publicly denounce the verbal abuse.
“This hateful and homophobic attack against myself and Councilmember Mario Enríquez was completely unacceptable and does not reflect the values of Stockton,” Lee said in a statement. “As elected officials, we take an oath to represent all people with dignity and respect. There is no place in our city for discrimination, division or attacks rooted in prejudice.”
Enríquez said he was equally disappointed by the comments of the Veltri campaign, more so because he knows the candidate socially.
“I’ve met Mr. Veltri a couple of times, and he and his family have always been friendly and kind to me,” Enríquez said. “So I was surprised that it was coming from his campaign. From what I saw, it came from his campaign. I mean, it’s also heartbreaking. To use my name, and it seems a Pride flag vote as a negative, it saddens me.”
Attempts to contact Veltri on Wednesday by phone and through social media accounts were unsuccessful.
The campaign messaging also struck a nerve with the San Joaquin Pride Center, which released a statement critical of both Veltri and Toccoli.
“The anti-LGBTQ fearmongering in these mailers is embarrassing, divisive, and wildly disconnected from what Stockton residents actually need from leadership,” the center said in a post on social media.
Unlike some votes in the past, the May 2025 vote to fly the Pride flag over City Hall was drama-free. The measure passed unanimously, without discussion during the consent agenda. In addition to Blower, Lee and Enríquez, Mayor Fugazi, District 1 Councilmember Michelle Padilla and District 5 Councilmember Brando Villapudua were also in favor of the move.
“I voted for a flag policy that recognizes the full strength of our community, including flying the Pride flag and the flags of each branch of our armed forces,” Blower said. “It passed unanimously.”
The vote brought closure to a multiyear debate about flying the Pride flag that has at times divided the council and drawn strong reactions from the community.
In June 2023, the council deadlocked 3-3 on whether to fly the Pride flag at City Hall, resulting in it not being raised at the start of Pride Month. The split vote, which came amid tense public comment, centered on differing interpretations of the city’s flag display policy and concerns about politicizing city-owned flagpoles. A week later, the issue returned to the council agenda. This time, a fourth vote in favor broke the deadlock, and the flag was raised later that month.
Stockton’s flag policy, adopted in 2019, defines commemorative flags as those marking specific events or causes and allows them to be flown only with council approval. Only councilmembers may sponsor such resolutions. The policy states that city flagpoles are not intended to serve as forums for public expression.
In 2024, the Pride flag was again the subject of disagreement. The council ultimately voted to approve its display, though then-Mayor Kevin Lincoln, who had consistently opposed using city flagpoles for commemorative causes, dissented. At that time, the flag was flown during the last week of June.
The primary vote is on June 2, at the beginning of Pride Month. The top two candidates will advance to the general election in November if a single candidate does not receive more than 50% of the vote.
Blower avoided a runoff in 2022, gaining 68% of the vote in the primary.
Stocktonia writer Andrea Baltodano contributed to this report.