The 2004 San Diego City Council election occurred on November 2, 2004. The primary election was held on March 2, 2004. Four of the eight seats of the

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 ...

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

were contested. This election used the boundaries created by the 2000 Redistricting Committee for the odd-numbered districts. All four incumbent council members ran for reelection in their respective districts. 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, although most candidates do identify a party preference. A

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

was used for the election, starting with a primary in March followed by a runoff in November between the top-two candidates if no candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round.

Campaign

The 2004 election used the eight district boundaries created by the 2000 Redistricting Commission for the odd numbered districts. Seats in districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 were up for election.

Results

District 1

District 1 consisted of the communities of

Black Mountain Ranch Black Mountain Ranch is a suburban community in the northern part of the city of San Diego, California. Black Mountain Ranch encompasses and is located north of Rancho Peñasquitos and Torrey Highlands, south of the Santa Fe Valley, east of Fai ...

, Carmel Valley, Del Mar Mesa, La Jolla, Pacific Highlands Ranch, Rancho Peñasquitos, Torrey Highlands,

Torrey Hills Torrey Hills is a community of located in northern San Diego, California, United States. Torrey Hills is a part of District 1 which is represented by Councilmember Joe LaCava on the San Diego City Council. Geography Torrey Hills is bordered to ...

, Torrey Pines, and University City. Incumbent council member Scott Peters stood for reelection. Peters advanced out of the March primary with a plurality of the vote and was reelected with a majority of the vote in the November general election.

District 3

District 3 consisted of the communities of Balboa Park,

City Heights City Heights is a dense urban community in central San Diego, California, known for its ethnic diversity. The area was previously known as East San Diego. City Heights is located south of Mission Valley and northeast of Balboa Park. City Heights ...

Golden Hill Golden Hill or Golden Hills may refer to: Places China *Golden Hill, Hong Kong, a mountain South Africa * Golden Hill, Western Cape, a suburb in Somerset West United Kingdom *Golden Hill, Bristol, a suburb *Golden Hill Fort, Isle of Wight United ...

, Hillcrest,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, Normal Heights, North Park,

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

, Talmadge, and University Heights. Incumbent council member Toni Atkins stood for reelection. Atkins was reelected with a majority of the vote in the March primary.

District 5

District 5 consisted of the communities of Carmel Mountain Ranch,

Mira Mesa Mira Mesa (Spanish for "Table View") is a community and neighborhood in the city of San Diego, California. The city-recognized Mira Mesa Community Plan Area is roughly bounded by Interstate 15 on the east, Interstate 805 on the west, the Los Peñ ...

, Rancho Bernardo,

Sabre Springs Sabre Springs is a community in San Diego, California, located in the northeastern part of the city. It is bounded by the city limits of Poway on the east, Ted Williams Parkway on the north, Interstate 15 on the west, and the community of Mira ...

Scripps Ranch Scripps Ranch is a community of San Diego, California in the northeastern part of that city. Its ZIP code is 92131. It is located east of Interstate 15, north of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and south of Poway. Scripps Ranch is a coastal/i ...

, and San Pasqual. Incumbent council member Brian Maienschein ran for reelection uncontested and was therefore elected with 100 percent of the vote in the March primary.

District 7

District 7 consisted of the communities of

Allied Gardens Allied Gardens is a residential neighborhood in the eastern Navajo community of San Diego, California. It neighbors San Carlos to the east, Del Cerro to the south, the College Area to the southeast and Grantville to the southwest. History Alli ...

College Area The College Area is a residential community in the Mid-City region of San Diego, California, United States. The College Area is dominated by San Diego State University (SDSU; once known as San Diego State College), after which the area is named. Se ...

Del Cerro Del Cerro (Spanish for "of the hill") is a hilly residential neighborhood of approximately 2,300 residents in the eastern part of San Diego, California. Del Cerro borders the communities of San Carlos, Allied Gardens, College Area, Grantville, a ...

, El Cerrito, Grantville, MCAS Miramar,

Mission Trails Regional Park Mission Trails Regional Park is a open space preserve within the city of San Diego, California, established in 1974. It is the sixth-largest municipally owned park in the United States, and the largest in California. Description The park cons ...

, Redwood Village – Oak Park, Rolando, San Carlos, Stonebridge Estates, and

Tierrasanta Tierrasanta, Spanish for "holy land," or "holy ground", is a community within the city of San Diego, California. The symbol of Tierrasanta is an encircled Conquistador cross, similar to one atop Montserrat (mountain) near Barcelona, Spain, though i ...

. Incumbent council member Jim Madaffer stood for reelection. Madaffer was reelected with a majority of the vote in the March primary.

Deputy Mayor

The new city council was sworn in December 2004. Council member

Michael Zucchet Michael J. Zucchet (born December 24, 1969) is an American Democratic politician, a former member of the San Diego City Council, and a former Deputy Mayor of San Diego. In 2005, he briefly served as the Acting Mayor of San Diego. Early life and ...

of district 2 was initially tapped to serve as deputy mayor. Zucchet briefly served as acting mayor of San Diego after the resignation of Dick Murphy. Atkins took over as acting mayor when Zucchet was forced to resign shortly thereafter due to a corruption conviction.

References

{{2004 United States elections

2004 California elections

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2000s in San Diego