Jim Desmond | |
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Vice Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors | |
In office January 5, 2020 –January 5, 2021 | |
Preceded by | Greg Cox |
Succeeded by | Nora Vargas |
Member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors from the 5th district | |
Assumed office January 7,2019 | |
Preceded by | Bill Horn |
Personal details | |
Political party | Republican |
Children | 2 |
Education | San Diego State University (BS) |
Military service | |
Branch/service | ![]() |
Jim Desmond is an American politician and retired aviator serving as a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors from the fifth district since 2019. [1] [1] A member of the Republican Party,he served as vice chair of the body from 2020 to 2021 and previously served as mayor of San Marcos,California,from 2006 to 2018. [2]
On January 16,2025,Desmond announced that he was running for California's 49th congressional district in the 2026 election. [3]
Desmond served in the United States Navy as an aircraft electrician from 1974 to 1979 before obtaining his pilots license from San Diego Flight Schools between 1978 and 1983. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from San Diego State University in 1985. [4] After college,he founded Technical Standards,Inc. a technical writing company. [5]
Desmond worked as a pilot from 1986 to 2020,flying Boeing 737 aircraft with Delta Airlines. He retired early in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [6]
Desmond served on the San Marcos city council from 2004 to 2006 before being elected as the city's mayor in 2006. [7] He was re-elected in 2010 and 2014 without opposition. [8] [9]
In 2018,Desmond ran for the fifth district seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Desmond,a Republican,and Michelle Gomez,a Democrat,advanced from the June primary with 45.1% and 22.9% of the vote,respectively. [10] Desmond went on to defeat Gomez in the November general election with 56.3% of the vote. [11] [12]
He ran for re-election in 2022,and was challenged by Democratic neuroscientist Tiffany Boyd-Hodgson. Since no other candidates qualified to run,both candidates automatically advanced from the June primary. Desmond defeated Boyd-Hodgson 60.1% to 39.9% in the November general election. [13]
Desmond has denied the effects of human activity on climate change,while acknowledging its impacts,such as sea level rise. [14]
Desmond has been described as a COVID-19 skeptic,referring to only a fraction of deaths from COVID-19 as "pure." [15]
In 2018,then-mayor Desmond sided with the Trump administration during a lawsuit against the state of California over its passage of Senate Bill 54,which made it a sanctuary state. [16]
Desmond has criticized the immigration policy of the Joe Biden administration,claiming that it has made the United States "more unsafe." [17] In 2024,he testified before the Republican-led House Committee on Homeland Security,saying that an influx of migrants have placed a strain on San Diego County's resources. [18]
In December 2024,he voted against a resolution restricting law enforcement in San Diego County from using county resources to cooperate with federal authorities,including ICE,with planned mass deportations. [19] [20] [21]
Desmond moved to San Diego when he joined the Navy in 1984.[ citation needed ] He is married and has two children. As of 2022,Desmond and his wife reside in Oceanside,California. [22] [23]
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