The 1986 San Diego mayoral special election was held on June 3, 1986 to elect the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

for

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. The special election was necessary due to the resignation of former Mayor

Roger Hedgecock Roger Allan Hedgecock (born May 2, 1946) is an American politician and conservative talk radio host, who served as 30th mayor of San Diego between May 1983 and December 1985. His show is syndicated by Radio America. Early life Hedgecock was born ...

. Municipal elections in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

are officially non-partisan, though some candidates do receive funding and support from various political parties. The non-partisan special primary was held Tuesday, February 25, 1986. Former

San Diego City Council The San Diego City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of San Diego, California. The city council was first established in San Diego in 1850. The council uses a strong mayor system with a separately elected mayor who acts ...

member

Maureen O'Connor Maureen O'Connor (born August 7, 1951) is an American lawyer and judge serving as the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. She was elected to the court in 2002, becoming chief justice in 2010. Prior to this, O'Connor served as an associate ...

and current council member

Bill Cleator William Edward Cleator Sr. (May 25, 1927 – February 10, 1993) was an American politician from San Diego, California. He served on the City Council for six years including five months as acting mayor. He was a Republican, although city positions ...

received the most votes and advanced to the June runoff. O'Connor was elected mayor with a majority of the votes in the June runoff.

Roger Hedgecock resignation

On December 10, 1985,

resigned as

mayor of San Diego The mayor of the City of San Diego is the official head and chief executive officer of the U.S. city of San Diego, California. The mayor has the duty to enforce and execute the laws enacted by the San Diego City Council, the legislative branch. ...

after losing an attempt to overturn a felony conviction on one count of conspiracy and 12 counts of perjury. Deputy Mayor Ed Struiksma assumed the role of acting mayor until a special election could be held to fill the vacancy.

Candidates

, former member of the

and mayoral candidate in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, member of the San Diego City Council and mayoral candidate in

*Floyd Morrow, former member of the San Diego City Council * Ed Struiksma, member of the San Diego City Council and acting mayor *Mary Christian-Heising, political scientist *Loch David Crane, magician, college instructor, and

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

*Robert McCullough, environmental developer *Raymond Peters, former owner of New World Airways *John Kelley, semi-retired public relations man, and perennial candidate *Warren Nielsen, construction company owner *Vernon Watts, Jr., unemployed *Nicholas Walpert, part-time pilot *Rose Lynne, retired teacher and perennial candidate *Arthur Helliwell, veteran

Campaign

The special election to replace Hedgecock attracted a crowded field of candidates. The three candidates considered front-runners were

member

, a Republican, and former council members

and Floyd Morrow, both Democrats. Acting mayor Ed Struiksma initially filed to run for election, but dropped out of the race after learning that he would be subject of a criminal investigation related to allegedly fabricated expense accounts. In the primary election held February 25, 1986, O'Connor placed first with 45.9 percent of the vote followed by Cleator with 30.1 percent. Morrow finished in third with 19.1 percent of the vote. Struiksma, whose name remained on the ballot despite dropping out, received 1.6 percent of the vote. The remaining votes were distributed between 12 other candidates, none of whom received more than one percent of the vote. As the top two vote-getters, O'Connor and Cleator advanced to the June runoff. O'Connor was then elected mayor with 55.3 percent of the vote on June 3, 1986.

Primary election results

Runoff election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Diego mayoral election, 1986

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1986 California elections California special elections 1986 United States mayoral elections United States mayoral special elections 1980s in San Diego June 1986 events in the United States