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Elections in California |
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The 2004 San Diego mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004 to elect the mayor for San Diego. Incumbent mayor Dick Murphy stood for reelection for a second term.
Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan, though some candidates do receive funding and support from various political parties. The non-partisan primary was held Tuesday, June 3, 2004. Murphy and county supervisor Ron Roberts received the most votes and advanced to the November special general election. [1]
After the primary San Diego City Council member Donna Frye entered the race as a write-in candidate for the November general election. Murphy was certified as winner with a narrow plurality of the votes in the general election over runner-up Frye. This result was subject to a recount and litigation before ultimately being upheld by the courts in February 2005.
In the March primary Dick Murphy received the most votes but not a majority, denying him the outright majority needed for an outright victory. This was the first time in twenty years that an incumbent mayor was forced to face a runoff election. San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts received the second most votes and advanced to the general election alongside Murphy. Roberts had also been the runner-up in the 2000 mayoral election against Murphy. [3]
After the primary elections, San Diego City Council member Donna Frye announced that she would run as a write-in candidate. Frye ran a maverick campaign against Murphy and Roberts, who were both considered establishment candidates by the media. Frye was the only member of the city council to vote against the underfunding of San Diego's pension liabilities that led to the San Diego pension scandal. As mayor, Murphy had voted in favor of the underfunding. [5]
In the general election, Dick Murphy was certified as winner of a plurality of votes by a margin of 2,108 votes over runner-up Frye. However, news outlets uncovered 5,547 ballots that were not counted on which voters had written in Frye's name but not filled in the adjacent oval. If these votes had been counted, Frye would have been elected mayor instead of Murphy. Members of the media requested a recount indirectly on Frye's behalf, leading to allegations of bias from Murphy's lawyers. [5]
Attorney Fred Woocher filed a lawsuit on behalf of three voters contesting Murphy's victory due to the 5,000 uncounted ballots. On February 2, 2005, Judge Michael Brenner ruled that the unfilled ovals did not count as votes under California state law, ending the post-election litigation battle. [6]
In April 2005, only two months after the results of the election were officially upheld by the courts, Murphy announced that he would be resigning as mayor. In the face of a deepening pension scandal that he was personally involved in, Murphy stated that San Diego needed a mayor with the support of the majority of residents and a clear mandate to lead the city out of its crisis. [7] The city held a special election to fill the vacancy at mayor.
In response to Donna Frye's nearly successful write-in candidacy, the San Diego City Council amended the municipal code so that write-in candidates could not run in general elections or run-off elections. Write-ins are still permitted in primary elections and recall elections. [8]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dick Murphy (incumbent) | 100,086 | 40.3 | |
Republican | Ron Roberts | 73,223 | 29.4 | |
Republican | Peter Q. Davis | 56,037 | 22.5 | |
Democratic | Jim Bell | 18,933 | 7.6 | |
Total votes | 248,868 | 100 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dick Murphy (incumbent) | 157,929 | 34.7 | |
Democratic | Donna Frye (write-in) | 155,851 | 34.2 | |
Republican | Ron Roberts | 141,884 | 31.1 | |
Total votes | 455,694 | 100 |
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be possible to win an election by winning a sufficient number of such write-in votes, which count equally as if the person were formally listed on the ballot.
Richard M. Murphy is an American former politician who served as the 33rd mayor of San Diego, California from 2000 to 2005.
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 mayor serves a four-year term and is limited to two successive terms.
Donna Frye is an American politician from San Diego. She was born in Pennsylvania and is one of three children. Frye was a member of the San Diego City Council, representing District 6 and a two-time candidate for mayor of San Diego. In July 2013 Frye was among the first to call on then-San Diego Democratic Mayor Bob Filner to resign over accusations of sexual harassment and assault.
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The 2012 San Diego mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the mayor for San Diego. Incumbent mayor Jerry Sanders was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election.
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The 2005 San Diego mayoral special election was a special election held on Tuesday, November 8, 2005, to elect the mayor for San Diego. The special election was necessary due to the resignation of former Mayor Dick Murphy.
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The 2006 San Diego City Council election occurred on November 7, 2006. The primary election was held on June 6, 2006. Four of the eight seats of the San Diego City Council were contested. All four incumbent council members stood for reelection.
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 City Council 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.
The 2002 San Diego City Council election occurred on November 5, 2002. The primary election was held on March 5, 2002. Four of the eight seats of the San Diego City Council were contested. Two incumbent council members stood for reelection after having previously been elected to partial terms.
The 2013–2014 San Diego mayoral special election was a special election to elect the Mayor of San Diego. The election was made necessary by the resignation of Bob Filner on August 30, 2013. The winner stood to serve out the balance of Filner's term, which ended in 2016.
The 2014 San Jose mayoral election was held on June 3, 2014 to elect the Mayor of San Jose, California. Councilmember Sam Liccardo defeated Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese in a runoff on November 4, 2014.
Municipal elections were held in San Diego in 2014 for city council and propositions. The primary election was held on June 3, 2014, and the general election was held on November 4, 2014. Four of the nine seats of the San Diego City Council were contested. Two city council incumbents ran for re-election in their same district and one ran for election in a new district due to redistricting.
The 2000 San Diego mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000 to elect the mayor for San Diego. Incumbent mayor Susan Golding was ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.
Municipal elections were held in San Diego in 2016 for mayor, city attorney, city council, and ballot measures. The primary election was held on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, and the general election was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Five of the nine council seats were contested. Two city council incumbents ran for reelection.
The 2016 San Diego mayoral election was held on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, to elect the Mayor of San Diego. Incumbent Kevin Faulconer ran for a second term as mayor against former San Diego City Council member Ed Harris and former California State Assembly member Lori Saldaña.
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