The 2013–2014 San Diego mayoral special election was a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to elect the

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. ...

. The election was made necessary by the resignation of

Bob Filner Robert Earl Filner (September 4, 1942 – April 20, 2025) was an American politician who was the 35th mayor of San Diego from December 2012 through August 2013, when he resigned amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He later pleaded g ...

on August 30, 2013. The winner stood to serve out the balance of Filner's term, which ended in 2016. The election was nonpartisan, in accordance with the California Constitution, and candidates appeared on the ballot with no party affiliation, although most chose to state a political party affiliation. 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. In the runoff,

Kevin Faulconer Kevin Lee Faulconer (born January 24, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 36th mayor of San Diego, from 2014 to 2020. A member of the Republican Party, Faulconer served as the member of the San Diego City Council for the 2nd dist ...

defeated David Alvarez.

Filner's resignation

In July 2013, Filner was accused of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

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. According to the city charter,

Todd Gloria Todd Rex Gloria (born May 10, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 37th mayor of San Diego since 2020. As mayor, he is the chief executive officer of the City of San Diego. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

, the president of the

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

, served as interim mayor until a new mayor was sworn into office.

Candidates

Declared

* Mike Aguirre, former San Diego city attorney * David Alvarez, San Diego city councilman * Hud Collins, lawyer * Bruce Coons, executive director of

Save Our Heritage Organisation Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation of the historic architecture and landmarks around the San Diego, California, area. Founded in 1969, Save Our Heritage Organisation maintains several hi ...

* Harry Dirks, business administrator and realtor *

, San Diego city councilman * Nathan Fletcher, former state assemblyman and mayoral candidate in 2012 * Michael Kemmer, student * Sina "Simon" Moghadam, businessman and engineer * Tobiah Pettus, construction superintendent and mayoral candidate in 2012 * Lincoln Pickard, retired contractor and gun rights advocate

Declined

Toni Atkins Toni Gayle Atkins (born August 1, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 51st president pro tempore of the California State Senate from 2018 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 69th speaker of the ...

, Majority Leader of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

and former Acting Mayor * Ruben Barrales, former aide to

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, former CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce *

Carl DeMaio Carl David DeMaio (born September 14, 1974) is an American politician from San Diego, California who is serving in the California State Assemblymember. A member of the Republican (United States), Republican Party, DeMaio represents the California ...

, former

man and mayoral candidate in 2012 (running for Congress) *

Bonnie Dumanis Bonnie Michelle Dumanis (born December 16, 1951) is an American attorney and former San Diego County District Attorney. She held the office from 2003 to 2017. Dumanis is a Republican, though the office she held was officially nonpartisan. She w ...

, San Diego County District Attorney and mayoral candidate in 2012 *

Donna Frye Donna Frye (born January 20, 1952) is an American politician who served as a member of the San Diego City Council from 2001 to 2010, representing San Diego City Council#District 6, District 6. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Dem ...

, former San Diego city councilwoman and mayoral candidate in 2004 and

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, interim mayor of San Diego and president of

* Jan Goldsmith, San Diego City Attorney * Lorena Gonzalez, state assemblywoman * William Gore, San Diego County Sheriff * Christine Kehoe, former state senator * Ron Roberts,

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

Supervisor and mayoral candidate in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, and

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 60 ...

* Matt Romney, investor and son of

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

* Lori Saldaña, former state assemblywoman

Special election

In the special election held November 19, 2013,

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.

Polling

Debate

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.

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.

Polling

With Aguirre
With DeMaio
With Fletcher
With Frye
With Gloria
With Goldsmith

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Diego mayoral election, 2013-2014 2013-2014 2013-2014 2013 California elections 2014 California elections 2013 United States mayoral elections 2014 United States mayoral elections February 2014 in the United States California special elections Mayoral special elections in the United States