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5 of the 9 seats on theSan Diego City Council | |||||||||||||||||||
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Municipal elections were held in San Diego in 2024 formayor,city attorney, andcity council. The primary election occurred Tuesday, March 5, 2024, and the general election occurred Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
Five of the nine city council seats were up for election, with all five incumbents winning re-election. A special election was also held at the time of the primary to fill the District 4 seat vacated byMonica Montgomery Steppe, who had resigned following her election to theSan Diego County Board of Supervisors in 2023.[1][2]
Municipal elections inCalifornia are officially non-partisan, although most members do identify a party preference. Atwo-round system is used for the elections, starting with primaries in March followed by runoff elections in November between the top-two candidates in each race.
IncumbentTodd Gloria, aDemocrat, and Larry Turner, anindependent, defeated three other candidates and advanced from the primary on March 5, 2024. Gloria went on to defeat Turner in the general election.
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Todd Gloria (incumbent) | 132,055 | 50.0 | |
| Independent | Larry Turner | 60,931 | 23.1 | |
| Democratic | Geneviéve Jones-Wright | 42,196 | 16.0 | |
| Republican | Jane Glasson | 18,990 | 7.2 | |
| Democratic | Dan Smiechowski | 9,973 | 3.8 | |
| Total votes | 264,145 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Todd Gloria | 301,923 | 55.4 | |
| Independent | Larry Turner | 243,467 | 44.6 | |
| Total votes | 545,390 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
Incumbent city attorneyMara Elliott was ineligible for re-election due to term limits. Chief Deputy City AttorneyHeather Ferbert andCalifornia state assemblymemberBrian Maienschein advanced from the March primary with 53.2% and 46.8% of the vote, respectively. Ferbert went on to defeat Maeinschein in the general election.[4]
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Heather Ferbert | 122,894 | 53.2 | |
| Democratic | Brian Maienschein | 108,264 | 46.8 | |
| Total votes | 231,158 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Heather Ferbert | 280,368 | 56.8 | |
| Democratic | Brian Maienschein | 213,211 | 43.2 | |
| Total votes | 493,579 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
Seats inSan Diego City Council districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 were up for election. IncumbentsJoe LaCava,Stephen Whitburn,Marni von Wilpert,Raul Campillo, andSean Elo-Rivera ran for re-election. LaCava, von Wilpert and Campillo won re-election unopposed in the March primary,[5] while Whitburn and Elo-Rivera defeated fellowDemocratic challengers in the November general election.[6]
Top election issues included homelessness,[5][7][8] infrastructure deficits,[9] and housing affordability,[10] part of a broaderhousing crisis statewide.
District 1 consists of the communities ofCarmel Valley,Del Mar Heights,Del Mar Mesa,Pacific Highlands Ranch,La Jolla,Torrey Hills,Torrey Pines,University City, and theUniversity of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus.
IncumbentJoe LaCava ran unopposed for re-election and won the election outright in the primary on March 5, 2024.[11]
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Joe LaCava (incumbent) | 24,283 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 24,283 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
District 3 consists of the communities ofBalboa Park,Bankers Hill/Park West,Downtown,Golden Hill,Hillcrest,Little Italy,Middleton,Mission Hills,North Park,South Park, andUniversity Heights.[5]
IncumbentStephen Whitburn and Coleen Cusack, bothDemocrats, defeated two other candidates and advanced from the primary on March 5, 2024.[12] Whitburn went on to defeat Cusack in the general election.[13][6]
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| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Stephen Whitburn (incumbent) | 17,033 | 52.4 | |
| Democratic | Coleen Cusack | 6,811 | 20.9 | |
| Democratic | Kate Callen | 5,417 | 16.7 | |
| Republican | Ellis T. California Jones III | 3,254 | 10.0 | |
| Total votes | 32,515 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Stephen Whitburn | 37,374 | 58.1 | |
| Democratic | Coleen Cusack | 26,923 | 41.9 | |
| Total votes | 64,297 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
District 4 consists of the communities ofAlta Vista, Broadway Heights, Chollas View, Emerald Hills, Encanto, Greater Skyline Hills, Jamacha, Lincoln Park, Lomita Village, Mountain View, North Bay Terrace, Oak Park, O'Farrell, Paradise Hills, Ridgeview, South Bay Terrace, Valencia Park, and Webster.
Monica Montgomery Steppe, who had represented district 4 since 2018, won election to theSan Diego County Board of Supervisors in a special election on November 7, 2023.[2] She resigned from her seat on the city council on December 5, 2023. During the vacancy, her chief of staff, Henry Foster III, acted as thede facto manager of the District 4 office.
Foster won the special election on March 5, 2024, to serve the remainder of the term until2026. His election resulted in the restoration of a 9-0 Democratic supermajority on the city council.[20]
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| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Henry Foster III | 8,840 | 53.83 | |
| Democratic | Chida Warren-Darby | 4,481 | 27.29 | |
| Democratic | Tylisa D. Suseberry | 3,100 | 18.88 | |
| Total votes | 16,421 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
District 5 consists of the communities ofBlack Mountain Ranch,Carmel Mountain Ranch,Miramar,Rancho Bernardo,Rancho Encantada,Rancho Peñasquitos,Sabre Springs,San Pasqual Valley,Scripps Ranch, andTorrey Highlands.
IncumbentMarni von Wilpert ran unopposed for re-election and won the election outright in the primary on March 5, 2024.
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Marni von Wilpert (incumbent) | 28,231 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 28,231 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
District 7 consists of the communities ofAllied Gardens,Del Cerro,Grantville,Linda Vista,Mission Valley,San Carlos,Serra Mesa, andTierrasanta.
IncumbentRaul Campillo ran unopposed for re-election and won the election outright in the primary on March 5, 2024.
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Raul Campillo (incumbent) | 23,196 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 23,196 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
District 9 consists of the communities ofKensington,Normal Heights, andEast San Diego, as well as the main campus ofSan Diego State University.
IncumbentSean Elo-Rivera and Terry Hoskins, bothDemocrats, advanced from the primary on March 5, 2024, to the general election. Elo-Rivera went on to defeat Hoskins in the general election.[6]
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| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Sean Elo-Rivera (incumbent) | 10,042 | 51.9 | |
| Democratic | Terry Hoskins | 5,816 | 30.1 | |
| Independent | Fernando Garcia | 3,491 | 18.0 | |
| Total votes | 19,349 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Sean Elo-Rivera | 26,765 | 60.9 | |
| Democratic | Terry Hoskins | 17,213 | 39.1 | |
| Total votes | 43,978 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
After the election, incumbent council president Elo-Rivera, who had served since 2021, announced that he would not seek another term as council president.[24][25] He was succeeded by president pro temporeJoe LaCava, who was elected in a 9–0 vote on December 10, 2024.[26]
