2013–2014 San Diego mayoral special election

2013–2014 San Diego mayoral special election

November 19, 2013 and February 11, 2014

Candidate Kevin Faulconer David Alvarez Party Republican Democratic Vote 153,491 136,701 Percentage 52.9% 47.1%

Results by city council district Faulconer:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Alvarez:      60–70%      70–80%

Mayor before election Todd Gloria (acting) Democratic Elected Mayor Kevin Faulconer Republican

The 2013–2014 San Diego mayoral special election was a special election to elect the mayor of San Diego. The election was made necessary by the resignation of Bob Filner on August 30, 2013.^[1] The winner stood to serve out the balance of Filner's term, which ended in 2016.^[2]

The election was nonpartisan, in accordance with the California Constitution,^[3] and candidates appeared on the ballot with no party affiliation, although most chose to state a political party affiliation.^[4] A primary election was held on November 19, 2013. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff election was held between the top two vote-getters on February 11, 2014.^[5] In the runoff, Kevin Faulconer defeated David Alvarez.

Filner's resignation

In July 2013, Filner was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women. Despite continuing pressure to resign, he remained in office until he and the city reached a mediated agreement in August 2013, under which he agreed to resign and the city of San Diego agreed to help pay his legal fees.^[6] According to the city charter, Todd Gloria, the president of the San Diego City Council, served as interim mayor until a new mayor was sworn into office.^[7]

Candidates

Declared

• Mike Aguirre, former San Diego city attorney^[8]
• David Alvarez, San Diego city councilman^[8]
• Hud Collins, lawyer^[8]
• Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage Organisation^[8]
• Harry Dirks, business administrator and realtor^[8]
• Kevin Faulconer, San Diego city councilman^[8]
• Nathan Fletcher, former state assemblyman and mayoral candidate in 2012^[8]
• Michael Kemmer, student^[8]
• Sina "Simon" Moghadam, businessman and engineer^[8]
• Tobiah Pettus, construction superintendent and mayoral candidate in 2012^[8]
• Lincoln Pickard, retired contractor and gun rights advocate^[8]

Declined

• Toni Atkins, Majority Leader of the California State Assembly and former Acting Mayor^[9]
• Ruben Barrales, former aide to George W. Bush, former CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce^[10]
• Carl DeMaio, former San Diego City Councilman and mayoral candidate in 2012 (running for Congress)^[11]
• Bonnie Dumanis, San Diego County District Attorney and mayoral candidate in 2012^[9]
• Donna Frye, former San Diego city councilwoman and mayoral candidate in 2004 and 2005^[9][12]
• Todd Gloria, interim mayor of San Diego and president of San Diego City Council^[13]
• Jan Goldsmith, San Diego City Attorney^[9]
• Lorena Gonzalez, state assemblywoman^[10]
• William Gore, San Diego County Sheriff^[10]
• Christine Kehoe, former state senator^[9]
• Ron Roberts, San Diego County Supervisor and mayoral candidate in 1992, 2000, and 2004^[12][13]
• Matt Romney, investor and son of Mitt Romney^[14]
• Lori Saldaña, former state assemblywoman^[10]

Special election

In the special election held November 19, 2013, Kevin Faulconer received 43.6 percent of the vote and David Alvarez received 25.6 percent. The two of them advanced to a runoff election on February 11, 2014. Nathan Fletcher narrowly missed the runoff with 24.3 percent of the vote, just as he had when he previously run in the 2012 mayoral election. Mike Aguirre placed a distant fourth with 4.4 percent. The other eight candidates each received less than 1 percent of the vote each.^[15]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mike Aguirre	David Alvarez	Kevin Faulconer	Nathan Fletcher	Other	Undecided
SurveyUSA[16]	November 11–14, 2013	510	±4.4%	7%	22%	40%	24%	4%	3%
SurveyUSA[17]	October 28–31, 2013	550	±4.3%	7%	17%	41%	28%	3%	4%
SurveyUSA[18]	October 7–10, 2013	513	±4.4%	8%	20%	28%	32%	4%	8%
SurveyUSA[19]	September 19–23, 2013	527	±4.4%	9%	17%	22%	30%	6%[a]	15%

1. Bruce Coons 2%, Other 4%

Results

Although local elections are officially non-partisan per the California constitution, major candidates typically publicly align themselves with political parties. Therefore, political preference of candidates is indicated in the table below where it is known.

2013–2014 San Diego mayoral special election^[12]^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kevin Faulconer	101,953	42.1%
	Democratic	David Alvarez	65,740	27.1%
	Democratic	Nathan Fletcher	58,355	24.1%
	Democratic	Mike Aguirre	10,783	4.5%
	Republican	Lincoln Pickard	1,144	0.5%
	Democratic	Bruce Coons	1,012	0.4%
	Nonpartisan	Sina "Simon" Moghadam	748	0.3%
	Nonpartisan	Hud Collins	647	0.3%
	Nonpartisan	Michael Kemmer	612	0.3%
	Nonpartisan	Harry Dirks	434	0.2%
	Nonpartisan	Tobiah Pettus	344	0.1%
	Nonpartisan	Farrah Pirahanchi (write-in)	5	0.0%
Total votes			242,828	100%

Special run-off election

On February 11, 2014, Kevin Faulconer received 52.9 percent majority in the run-off vote and was elected mayor of San Diego.^[12]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Kevin Faulconer	David Alvarez	Undecided
SurveyUSA[21]	February 3–6, 2014	639	± 4%	47%	46%	7%
SurveyUSA[22]	January 20–23, 2014	646	± 3.9%	49%	44%	7%
Public Policy Polling[23]	January 13–14, 2014	526	± 4.3%	45%	46%	9%
SurveyUSA[24]	January 4–9, 2014	800	± 4.3%	53%	37%	10%
SurveyUSA[25]	December 2–5, 2013	515	± 4.4%	47%	46%	7%
SurveyUSA[16]	November 11–14, 2013	510	± 4.4%	51%	38%	11%
SurveyUSA[17]	October 28–31, 2013	550	± 4.3%	52%	36%	12%
SurveyUSA[18]	October 7–10, 2013	513	± 4.4%	44%	35%	21%
SurveyUSA[19]	September 19–23, 2013	527	± 4.4%	38%	35%	26%

Hypothetical polling

With Aguirre

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mike Aguirre	David Alvarez	Undecided
SurveyUSA[16]	November 11–14, 2013	510	± 4.4%	29%	46%	25%
SurveyUSA[17]	October 28–31, 2013	550	± 4.3%	31%	43%	26%
SurveyUSA[18]	October 7–10, 2013	513	± 4.4%	23%	46%	31%
SurveyUSA[19]	September 19–23, 2013	527	± 4.4%	32%	40%	28%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mike Aguirre	Kevin Faulconer	Undecided
SurveyUSA[16]	November 11–14, 2013	510	± 4.4%	28%	55%	16%
SurveyUSA[17]	October 28–31, 2013	550	± 4.3%	25%	59%	16%
SurveyUSA[18]	October 7–10, 2013	513	± 4.4%	27%	53%	20%
SurveyUSA[19]	September 19–23, 2013	527	± 4.4%	35%	42%	23%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Mike Aguirre	Nathan Fletcher	Undecided
SurveyUSA[16]	November 11–14, 2013	510	± 4.4%	30%	46%	24%
SurveyUSA[17]	October 28–31, 2013	550	± 4.3%	27%	54%	19%
SurveyUSA[18]	October 7–10, 2013	513	± 4.4%	25%	54%	20%
SurveyUSA[19]	September 19–23, 201	527	± 4.4%	23%	53%	24%

With DeMaio

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Carl DeMaio	Nathan Fletcher	Undecided
SurveyUSA[26]	July 16–18, 2013	564	± 4.2%	41%	42%	16%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Carl DeMaio	Donna Frye	Undecided
SurveyUSA[26]	July 16–18, 2013	564	± 4.2%	51%	33%	16%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Carl DeMaio	Todd Gloria	Undecided
SurveyUSA[26]	July 16–18, 2013	564	± 4.2%	50%	29%	21%

With Fletcher

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	David Alvarez	Nathan Fletcher	Undecided
SurveyUSA[16]	November 11–14, 2013	510	± 4.4%	38%	42%	20%
SurveyUSA[17]	October 28–31, 2013	550	± 4.3%	31%	51%	18%
SurveyUSA[18]	October 7–10, 2013	513	± 4.4%	29%	49%	22%
SurveyUSA[19]	September 19–23, 2013	527	± 4.4%	24%	52%	24%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Kevin Faulconer	Nathan Fletcher	Undecided
SurveyUSA[16]	November 11–14, 2013	510	± 4.4%	47%	38%	14%
SurveyUSA[17]	October 28–31, 2013	550	± 4.3%	46%	41%	12%
SurveyUSA[18]	October 7–10, 2013	513	± 4.4%	36%	46%	17%
SurveyUSA[19]	September 19–23, 2013	527	± 4.4%	30%	44%	26%
SurveyUSA[26]	July 16–18, 2013	564	± 4.2%	24%	50%	26%

With Frye

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Kevin Faulconer	Donna Frye	Undecided
SurveyUSA[26]	July 16–18, 2013	564	± 4.2%	40%	37%	23%

With Gloria

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Kevin Faulconer	Todd Gloria	Undecided
SurveyUSA[26]	July 16–18, 2013	564	± 4.2%	36%	30%	34%

With Goldsmith

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Nathan Fletcher	Jan Goldsmith	Undecided
SurveyUSA[26]	July 16–18, 2013	564	± 4.2%	47%	28%	25%

Results

2013–14 San Diego mayoral special election runoff^[27]^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kevin Faulconer	153,491	52.9%
	Democratic	David Alvarez	136,701	47.1%
Total votes			290,192	100%

References

1. "Special election to replace Filner set for November 19". KFMB-TV. August 28, 2013. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
2. "Kevin Faulconer elected next mayor of San Diego, will finish Filner's term". San Diego 6 – the CW. February 12, 2014. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
3. "California Constitution Art. 2 Sec. 6". State of California. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
4. Warren, Michael (February 12, 2014). "Republican Kevin Faulconer Wins Mayoral Race in San Diego". The Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
5. Puttnam, Neal (December 19, 2013). "Council sets Feb. 11 for special mayoral election. Re-elects Gloria as Council president". LGBT Weekly. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
6. Perry, Tony (August 22, 2013). "Bob Filner to resign as part of a sexual harassment lawsuit deal". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
7. Fry, Wendy (July 22, 2013). "San Diego Mayor Bob Filner to Resign | NBC 7 San Diego". Nbcsandiego.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
8. "11 qualify for ballot in SD mayor's race". UT San Diego. September 24, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
9. "San Diego Mayor: Who's In, Who's Out, Who's Undecided?". KPBS. August 26, 2013. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
10. Jessica Taylor. "What's next after Filner, and what his resignation means for control of Congress – First Read". Firstread.nbcnews.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
11. "Carl DeMaio won't run for mayor of San Diego". The Washington Post. September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
12. "Election History – Mayor of San Diego" (PDF). City of San Diego. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
13. "Former Councilman Carl DeMaio, Supervisor Ron Roberts will not run for San Diego mayor". ABC 10 News. September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
14. "Matt Romney, Mitt's son, decides not to run for mayor of San Diego". Los Angeles Times. August 30, 2013. Archived from the original on August 31, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
15. "San Diego mayor race: Alvarez, Faulconer expected to meet in runoff". ABC 10 News. November 19, 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
16. SurveyUSA
17. SurveyUSA
18. SurveyUSA
19. SurveyUSA
20. "Democracy 2013: Results". ABC 10 News. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
21. SurveyUSA
22. SurveyUSA
23. Public Policy Polling
24. SurveyUSA
25. SurveyUSA
26. SurveyUSA
27. "Kevin Faulconer Elected New Mayor in San Diego". NBC 7 San Diego. February 11, 2014. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.