2018 San Diego City Council election

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2018 San Diego City Council election
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←  2016 November 6, 2018 (2018-11-06) 2020  →
4 of the 9 seats on the San Diego City Council
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Party Democratic Republican
Seats before54
Seats after63
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 1
Council President before election

Myrtle Cole
Democratic

Elected Council President

Georgette Gomez
Democratic

The 2018 San Diego City Council election occurred on November 6, 2018. The primary election was held June 5, 2018. Four of the nine seats of the San Diego City Council were contested.

Contents

Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan, although most members do identify a party preference. A two-round system was used for the election, starting with a primary in June followed by a runoff in November between the top-two candidates in each district.

The election resulted in a net gain of one seat for self-identified Democrats. This gave Democrats a two-thirds majority on the City Council, allowing them to override vetoes by Republican Mayor Kevin Faulconer on issues that divide along partisan lines. Additionally two incumbent council members were defeated, marking the first time any incumbent had lost a City Council election in the city since 1992. [1]

Campaign

Council Districts used for the 2018 election Cdmapth.jpg
Council Districts used for the 2018 election

The even-numbered districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 were up for election in 2018. It was the first City Council election using the new rules that requires a runoff in November between the top-two candidates in the June primary whether or not any of the candidates get a majority of the vote. [2]

Incumbents Lorie Zapf (District 2), Myrtle Cole (District 4), and Chris Cate (District 6) stood for reelection. David Alvarez (District 8) was ineligible to run due to term limits. [2] Republicans were considered more vulnerable to lose seats in the election due to the two Republican-held seats, Districts 2 and 6, being considered swing districts while the two Democrat-held seats, Districts 4 and 8, were considered safe districts. However, incumbents historically had not lost reelection to the San Diego City Council, and both Zapf and Cate had raised far more money than their challengers as of February 2018. [3]

Results

District 2

District 2 consisted of the communities of Bay Ho/Bay Park/Morena, Midway/North Bay, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, and Point Loma. A large field of seven challengers qualified to run against incumbent council member Lorie Zapf. [2] [4] In the June primary, Zapf advanced to the general election to face retired doctor Jennifer Campbell. [5] Campbell was elected to the City Council in the November general election, making Zapf one of the first incumbents on the City Council to lose a reelection bid since 1992. [1]

San Diego City Council District 2 election, 2018 [6]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Lorie Zapf 13,786 42.85
Democratic Jennifer Campbell 6,871 21.36
Democratic Bryan Pease6,37519.81
Democratic Jordan Beane3,1909.92
Democratic Daniel Smiechowski8472.63
Republican Kevin Melton7372.29
Nonpartisan Randy Hahn3671.14
Total votes32,173 100
General election
Democratic Jennifer Campbell 32,439 57.97
Republican Lorie Zapf 23,51642.03
Total votes55,955 100

District 4

District 4 consisted of the communities of Alta Vista, Broadway Heights, Chollas View, Emerald Hills, Encanto, Greater Skyline Hills, Jamacha, Lincoln Park, Lomita Village, North Bay Terrace, Oak Park, O'Farrell, Paradise Hills, Redwood Village, Rolando Park, South Bay Terrace, Valencia Park, and Webster. Three challengers qualified to run against incumbent Council President Myrtle Cole, all from her own party. [2] In the June primary, Cole advanced to the general election to face civil rights lawyer Monica Montgomery. [5] Montgomery was elected to the City Council in the November general election, making Cole one of the first incumbents on the City Council to lose a reelection bid since 1992. This did not impact the partisan composition of the City Council since both Cole and Montgomery are Democrats. [1]

San Diego City Council District 4 election, 2018 [7]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Monica Montgomery 7,424 38.88
Democratic Myrtle Cole 7,418 38.85
Democratic Tony Villafranca3,27317.14
Democratic Neal Arthur9785.12
Total votes19,093 100
General election
Democratic Monica Montgomery 20,180 57.74
Democratic Myrtle Cole 14,76942.26
Total votes34,949 100

District 6

District 6 consisted of the communities of Clairemont Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Mira Mesa, Mission Valley, North Clairemont, and Rancho Peñasquitos. Five challengers qualified to run against incumbent council member Chris Cate. [2] In the June primary, Cate advanced to the general election to face environmental advocate Tommy Hough. [5] Cate was reelected in the November general election. [1]

San Diego City Council District 6 election, 2018 [8]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Chris Cate 15,316 56.44
Democratic Tommy Hough 4,728 17.42
Democratic Matt Valenti2,6559.78
Democratic Fayaz Nawabi1,8386.77
Nonpartisan Jeremiah Blattler1,4905.49
American Solidarity Kevin Lee Egger1,1114.09
Total votes27,138 100
General election
Republican Chris Cate 25,022 53.78
Democratic Tommy Hough21,50546.22
Total votes46,527 100

District 8

District 8 consisted of the southern communities of San Diego and those along the Mexico–United States border, including the communities of Barrio Logan, Egger Highlands, Grant Hill, Logan Heights, Memorial, Nestor, Ocean View Hills, Otay Mesa West, Otay Mesa East, San Ysidro, Sherman Heights, Stockton, and Tijuana River Valley. Incumbent council member David Alvarez is ineligible to run due to term limits. Four candidates qualified to run for the open seat. In the June primary, Vivian Moreno, a political staffer in Alvarez's office, and Antonio Martinez, a community health clinic worker and member of the San Ysidro School District Board of Education, advanced to the general election. [5] [9] Moreno was then elected to the City Council in the November general election with a majority of the vote. [1]

[10]

San Diego City Council District 8 election, 2018 [11]
Primary election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Vivian Moreno 5,327 35.84
Democratic Antonio Martinez 4,087 27.50
Democratic Christian Ramirez4,08427.48
Democratic Zachary Lazarus1,3659.18
Total votes14,863 100
General election
Democratic Vivian Moreno 14,950 50.94
Democratic Antonio Martinez14,40149.06
Total votes29,351 100

Council president

On December 10, 2018, the new council was sworn in. For their first action, the council voted unanimously to appoint Georgette Gomez as council president. [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Garrick, David (November 7, 2018). "Cole, Zapf lose re-election bids in two rare instances of San Diego council incumbents being rejected". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Garrick, David (October 30, 2017). "San Diego City Council races taking shape with new challengers". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  3. ↑ Garrick, David (February 5, 2018). "Strong fund raising shaping San Diego City Council races heading into June primary". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  4. ↑ City News Service (January 1, 2018). "Local election season looms in San Diego in 2018". fox5sandiego.com. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Stickney, R. (June 6, 2018). "Primary Results Set Races for City Council Seats". NBC 7 San Diego. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Election History - Council District 2" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Election History - Council District 4" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Election History - Council District 6" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ Bowen, Andrew (November 7, 2018). "Moreno Maintains Lead In Battle For District 8 City Council". KPBS Public Media. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Election Night Results". www.livevoterturnout.com.
  11. ↑ "Election History - Council District 8" (PDF). City of San Diego. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  12. ↑ Bowen, Andrew. "District 9 City Councilwoman Georgette Gomez Elected City Council President". KPBS Public Media. No. December 11, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
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