1986 San Diego mayoral special election

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1986 San Diego mayoral special election
Flag of San Diego, California.svg
  1984 June 3, 1986 (1986-06-03) 1988  
  Maureen O'Connor.jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Maureen O'Connor Bill Cleator
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote112,30890,811
Percentage55.3%44.7%

Mayor before election

Ed Struiksma (acting)
Republican

Elected Mayor

Maureen O'Connor
Democratic

The 1986 San Diego mayoral special election was held on June 3, 1986 to elect the mayor for San Diego. The special election was necessary due to the resignation of former Mayor Roger Hedgecock.

Contents

Municipal elections in California 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 member Maureen O'Connor and current council member Bill Cleator 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, Roger Hedgecock resigned as mayor of San Diego 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. [1]

Candidates

Campaign

The special election to replace Hedgecock attracted a crowded field of candidates. The three candidates considered front-runners were San Diego City Council member Bill Cleator, a Republican, and former council members Maureen O'Connor and Floyd Morrow, both Democrats. [2] 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. [4]

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. [5] 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

San Diego mayoral special election, 1986 [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Maureen O'Connor 112,308 45.9
Republican Bill Cleator 53,23930.1
Democratic Floyd Morrow33,74319.1
Republican Ed Struiksma 2,8621.6
Democratic Mary Christian-Heising9880.6
Nonpartisan Loch David Crane8600.5
Nonpartisan Robert McCullough8510.5
Nonpartisan Raymond Peters8060.5
Nonpartisan John Kelley6720.4
Nonpartisan Warren Nielsen5720.3
Nonpartisan Vernon Watts, Jr.3380.2
Nonpartisan Nicholas Walpert2470.1
Nonpartisan Rose Lynne2130.1
Nonpartisan Arthur Helliwell1890.1
Nonpartisan Gladwin Salway (write-in)18
Nonpartisan Armand Benjamin, Jr. (write-in)6
Total votes176,869 100

Runoff election results

San Diego mayoral special runoff election, 1986 [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Maureen O'Connor 112,308 55.3
Republican Bill Cleator 90,811 44.7
Nonpartisan Merrill Cohen (write-in)28
Nonpartisan Robert McCullough (write-in)24
Total votes203,171 100

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References

  1. Braun, Gerry (December 11, 1985). "Mayor resigns, gets year in custody - appeal will delay serving sentence - Struiksma becomes the acting mayor". San Diego Union. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Smolens, Michael (February 19, 1986). "Mayoral candidates turn up the volume". San Diego Union. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Furey, John (February 4, 1986). "10 other hopefuls chase the leaders". Evening Tribune (San Diego). Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  4. Smolens, Michael; Braun, Gerry (February 7, 1986). "Struiksma drops out of mayor's race - DA will probe expense claims for 1984 trip". San Diego Union. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "Election History - Mayor of San Diego" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved March 5, 2017.