Special elections to the San Diego City Council are called by the San Diego City Council when a vacancy arises on the Council with more than one year remaining in the term.[1] Most special elections are conducted in two rounds. The first is an open primary and the candidate with the most votes must have a majority of the votes plus one to win the seat. If no candidate wins a majority a second round is held with the two top candidates regardless of party.
The dates listed only include the open primary round if no second round was held.[2]
District
Date
Predecessor
Winner
3
April 23, 1935
Alva Davis
Walter Wurfel
3
April 15, 1947
Elmer Blase
Paul Hartley
4
November 4, 1969
Tom Hom (R)
Leon Williams (D)
6
November 4, 1969
Jack Walsh (R)
Bob Martinet
3
November 8, 1983
Susan Golding (R)
Gloria McColl (R)
8
February 16, 1993
Bob Filner (D)
Juan Vargas (D)
8
September 21, 1993
Juan Vargas (D)
Juan Vargas (D)
8
February 27, 2001
Juan Vargas (D)
Ralph Inzunza (D)
6
June 5, 2001
Valerie Stallings (D)
Donna Frye (D)
4
January 4, 2005
Charles L. Lewis (D)
Tony Young (D)
2
January 10, 2006
Michael Zucchet (D)
Kevin Faulconer (R)
8
January 10, 2006
Ralph Inzunza (D)
Ben Hueso (D)
4
May 21, 2013
Tony Young (D)
Myrtle Cole (D)
List of recall elections[]
When applicable, the candidate who succeeded the recalled council member is listed. If the recall election was not successful the winner is listed as "none".
District
Date
Incumbent
Winner
5
April 9, 1991
Linda Bernhardt
Tom Behr
Results[]
2001 District 8 special election[]
2001 San Diego City Council District 8 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Juan Vargas
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Ralph Inzunza
4,759
62.10
Republican
Richard Babcock
714
9.32
Nonpartisan
Rafael Ramirez
606
7.91
Nonpartisan
David Gomez
325
4.24
Nonpartisan
Christian Ramirez
238
3.11
Nonpartisan
Gloria Tyler-Mallery
212
2.77
Nonpartisan
Kevin Hancock
168
2.19
Nonpartisan
Mary Arends-Biddlecome
164
2.14
Nonpartisan
Joe Ortega
164
2.14
Nonpartisan
Janice Jordan
138
1.80
Nonpartisan
Elias Rojas
117
1.53
Republican
Lincoln Pickard
59
0.77
Nonpartisan
Petra Barajas
12
0.15
Total votes
7,802
100
2001 District 6 special election[]
2001 San Diego City Council District 6 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Valerie Stallings
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Steve Danon
4,992
26.22
Democratic
Donna Frye
4,867
25.57
Nonpartisan
Michael Pallamary
3,573
18.77
Nonpartisan
Peter Navarro
1,494
7.85
Nonpartisan
Kim Cox
1,400
7.35
Nonpartisan
Gary Rotto
1,249
6.56
Nonpartisan
Larry L. Murray
569
2.99
Nonpartisan
Tom Switzer
450
2.36
Nonpartisan
Donald Mayes
299
1.57
Nonpartisan
Rick Richard
143
0.75
Nonpartisan
James Morrison (write-in)
12
0.06
Total votes
19,119
100
General election
Democratic
Donna Frye
12,259
52.25
Republican
Steve Danon
11,201
47.75
Total votes
23,564
100
2004–2005 District 4 special election[]
Charles L. Lewis died in office while under federal indictment on charges of bribery and corruption as a result of the FBI investigation known as Operation G-Sting. Tony Young, previously Lewis' chief of staff, ran in the special election to replace him. Young advanced to the runoff after receiving the second most votes in the special primary election on November 16, 2004. He went on to win election by receiving the majority of votes in the special runoff election on January 4, 2005.
2004–2005 San Diego City Council District 4 special election Vacancy resulting from the death of Charles L. Lewis
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
George Stevens
4,615
34.29
Democratic
Tony Young
3,102
23.04
Democratic
Dwayne Crenshaw
2,898
21.54
Nonpartisan
Marissa Acierto
1,210
8.99
Republican
Bruce Williams
917
6.81
Nonpartisan
Jim Galley
260
1.93
Nonpartisan
Gloria Tyler-Mallery
252
1.87
Nonpartisan
Patrick DeShields
205
1.52
Total votes
13,459
100
General election
Democratic
Tony Young
6,911
59.42
Democratic
George Stevens
4,719
40.58
Total votes
11,630
100
2005–2006 District 2 special election[]
Michael Zucchet resigned from office in July 2005 when he was convicted of corruption as a result of the FBI investigation known as Operation G-Sting, though he was later cleared of all charges.[3]Kevin Faulconer, who had been the runner-up in the 2002 election against Zucchet, ran again in the crowded special election. He received the most votes in the primary election on November 8, 2005, and was elected with a majority of the votes in the runoff on January 10, 2006.
2005–2006 San Diego City Council District 2 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Michael Zucchet
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Kevin Faulconer
15,912
34.44
Democratic
Lorena Gonzalez
11,543
24.98
Nonpartisan
Carolyn Chase
4,090
8.85
Nonpartisan
Rich Grosch
2,906
6.29
Nonpartisan
Tim Rutherford
2,442
5.29
Nonpartisan
Kathleen Blavatt
1,848
4.00
Nonpartisan
Ian Trowbridge
1,746
3.78
Nonpartisan
Pat Zaharopoulos
1,273
2.76
Nonpartisan
Phil Meinhardt
1,054
2.28
Nonpartisan
Tom Eaton
754
1.63
Nonpartisan
Greg Finley
615
1.33
Nonpartisan
David Diehl
470
1.02
Nonpartisan
James Joaquin Morrison
441
0.95
Nonpartisan
George Najjar
280
0.61
Nonpartisan
Robert E. Lee
250
0.54
Nonpartisan
Allen Hujsak
242
0.52
Nonpartisan
Linda Susan Finley
202
0.44
Total votes
52,154
100
General election
Republican
Kevin Faulconer
15,044
51.23
Democratic
Lorena Gonzalez
14,320
48.77
Total votes
29,448
100
2005–2006 District 8 special election[]
Ralph Inzunza resigned from office in July 2005 when he was convicted of corruption as a result of the FBI investigation known as Operation G-Sting.[3]Ben Hueso ran in the special election to replace Inzunza. He advanced to the special runoff election after receiving the plurality of the votes in the special primary on November 8, 2005. Hueso was elected to office with a majority of the votes in the runoff on January 10, 2006.
2005–2006 San Diego City Council District 8 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Ralph Inzunza
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Ben Hueso
7,454
38.15
Republican
Luis Acle
3,621
18.53
Nonpartisan
Remigia Bermudez
3,018
15.45
Nonpartisan
Dan Coffey
1,601
8.19
Nonpartisan
Kathy Vandenheuvel
1,060
5.43
Nonpartisan
Douglas Holbrook
800
4.09
Nonpartisan
Tim Gomez
775
3.97
Republican
Lincoln Pickard
595
3.05
Nonpartisan
Matthew Moncayo
537
2.75
Total votes
21,000
100
General election
Democratic
Ben Hueso
6,408
70.60
Republican
Luis Acle
2,600
28.65
Total votes
9,090
100
2013 District 4 special election[]
On November 17, 2012, Council President Tony Young announced that he would resign from the City Council early to become CEO of the San Diego-Imperial Counties chapter of the American Red Cross, triggering a special election.[4] Nine candidates qualified for the special primary election, scheduled for March 26, 2013.[5]Myrtle Cole, who had been endorsed by the local Democratic Party and the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, received the most votes in the primary. She advanced to the May 21, 2013 general election to face runner-up Dwayne Crenshaw, Executive Director of San Diego LGBT Pride.[6] Cole was elected to the City Council with a majority of the votes in the runoff.[7]
2013 San Diego City Council District 4 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Tony Young
Primary election
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Democratic
Myrtle Cole
4,304
32.3
Democratic
Dwayne Crenshaw
2,025
15.2
Democratic
Brian "Barry" Pollard
1,548
11.6
Democratic
Ray Smith
1,207
9.1
Democratic
Blanca Lopez Brown
1,084
8.1
Republican
Sandy Spackman
1,067
8.0
Democratic
Bruce Williams
1,059
8.0
Democratic
Tony Villafranca
621
4.7
Democratic
Monica Montgomery
404
3.0
Total votes
13,319
100
General election
Democratic
Myrtle Cole
6,612
54.1
Democratic
Dwayne Crenshaw
5,603
45.9
Total votes
12,215
100
References[]
^City of San Diego. "City Charter". www.sandiego.gov. Retrieved January 8, 2019.