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The1979 San Diego mayoral election was held on September 18, 1979, to elect themayor forSan Diego. IncumbentPete Wilson stood for reelection for a third term. As the result of a voter-approved amendment to the City Charter to align mayoral elections with state elections, the winner of the election stood to receive an extended five-year term.
Municipal elections inCalifornia are officially non-partisan, though some candidates do receive funding and support from various political parties.[1] The non-partisan primary was held September 18, 1979. Wilson received a majority of the votes in the primary and was reelected mayor with no need for a runoff election.
On June 19, 1979, former newspaper publisher Simon Casady announced he would run for mayor of San Diego. Casady was considered the strongest challenger to Wilson's attempt at a third term. Although the position of mayor is officially non-partisan, Casady, a liberal Democrat and long-time activist, hoped to run a partisan campaign against Wilson.[2] Wilson officially announced his candidacy for re-election on June 20, 1979. Wilson emphasized his positive record in his previous two terms as mayor in his re-election campaign.[4]
On September 18, 1979, Wilson was re-elected easily with 61.6 percent of the vote. Casady came in second with 31.6 percent of the vote. The five remaining candidates garnered less than 7 percent vote combined. Because Wilson received a majority of the vote, he was reelected outright with no need for a runoff election.[5]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Pete Wilson (incumbent) | 90,530 | 61.6 | |
| Democratic | Simon Casady | 46,502 | 31.6 | |
| Nonpartisan | John Kelley | 3,158 | 2.1 | |
| Nonpartisan | Charlotte Buchanan | 2,398 | 1.6 | |
| Republican | Michael Gomez | 1,804 | 1.2 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jerry Lester | 1,677 | 1.1 | |
| Socialist Workers | Raul Gonzalez | 963 | 0.7 | |
| Total votes | 147,032 | 100 | ||
Because Wilson was elected mayor with a majority of the votes in the primary, no runoff election was held.
