# List of special elections to the San Diego City Council

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vte :
Special elections to the San Diego City Council are called by the San Diego City Council when a vacancy arises on the Council with more than one year remaining in the term. Most special elections are conducted in two rounds. The first is an open primary and the candidate with the most votes must have a majority of the votes plus one to win the seat. If no candidate wins a majority a second round is held with the two top candidates regardless of party.

## List of special elections

The dates listed only include the open primary round if no second round was held.
| District | Date | Predecessor | Winner |
| 3 | April 23, 1935 | Alva Davis | Walter Wurfel |
| 3 | April 15, 1947 | Elmer Blase | Paul Hartley |
| 4 | November 4, 1969 | Tom Hom (R) | Leon Williams (D) |
| 6 | November 4, 1969 | Jack Walsh (R) | Bob Martinet |
| 3 | November 8, 1983 | Susan Golding (R) | Gloria McColl (R) |
| 8 | February 16, 1993 | Bob Filner (D) | Juan Vargas (D) |
| 8 | September 21, 1993 | Juan Vargas (D) | Juan Vargas (D) |
| 8 | February 27, 2001 | Juan Vargas (D) | Ralph Inzunza (D) |
| 6 | June 5, 2001 | Valerie Stallings (D) | Donna Frye (D) |
| 4 | January 4, 2005 | Charles L. Lewis (D) | Tony Young (D) |
| 2 | January 10, 2006 | Michael Zucchet (D) | Kevin Faulconer (R) |
| 8 | January 10, 2006 | Ralph Inzunza (D) | Ben Hueso (D) |
| 4 | May 21, 2013 | Tony Young (D) | Myrtle Cole (D) |

### List of recall elections

When applicable, the candidate who succeeded the recalled council member is listed. If the recall election was not successful the winner is listed as "none".
| District | Date | Incumbent | Winner |
| 5 | April 9, 1991 | Linda Bernhardt | Tom Behr |

## Results
### 2001 District 8 special election

2001 San Diego City Council District 8 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Juan Vargas :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Ralph Inzunza | 4,759 | 62.10 |
| | Republican | Richard Babcock | 714 | 9.32 |
| | Nonpartisan | Rafael Ramirez | 606 | 7.91 |
| | Nonpartisan | David Gomez | 325 | 4.24 |
| | Nonpartisan | Christian Ramirez | 238 | 3.11 |
| | Nonpartisan | Gloria Tyler-Mallery | 212 | 2.77 |
| | Nonpartisan | Kevin Hancock | 168 | 2.19 |
| | Nonpartisan | Mary Arends-Biddlecome | 164 | 2.14 |
| | Nonpartisan | Joe Ortega | 164 | 2.14 |
| | Nonpartisan | Janice Jordan | 138 | 1.80 |
| | Nonpartisan | Elias Rojas | 117 | 1.53 |
| | Republican | Lincoln Pickard | 59 | 0.77 |
| | Nonpartisan | Petra Barajas | 12 | 0.15 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 7,802 | 100 |

### 2001 District 6 special election

2001 San Diego City Council District 6 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Valerie Stallings :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Steve Danon | 4,992 | 26.22 |
| | Democratic | Donna Frye | 4,867 | 25.57 |
| | Nonpartisan | Michael Pallamary | 3,573 | 18.77 |
| | Nonpartisan | Peter Navarro | 1,494 | 7.85 |
| | Nonpartisan | Kim Cox | 1,400 | 7.35 |
| | Nonpartisan | Gary Rotto | 1,249 | 6.56 |
| | Nonpartisan | Larry L. Murray | 569 | 2.99 |
| | Nonpartisan | Tom Switzer | 450 | 2.36 |
| | Nonpartisan | Donald Mayes | 299 | 1.57 |
| | Nonpartisan | Rick Richard | 143 | 0.75 |
| | Nonpartisan | James Morrison (write-in) | 12 | 0.06 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 19,119 | 100 |
| General election |||||
| | Democratic | Donna Frye | 12,259 | 52.25 |
| | Republican | Steve Danon | 11,201 | 47.75 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 23,564 | 100 |

### 2004–2005 District 4 special election

Charles L. Lewis died in office while under federal indictment on charges of bribery and corruption as a result of the FBI investigation known as Operation G-Sting. Tony Young, previously Lewis' chief of staff, ran in the special election to replace him. Young advanced to the runoff after receiving the second most votes in the special primary election on November 16, 2004. He went on to win election by receiving the majority of votes in the special runoff election on January 4, 2005.
2004–2005 San Diego City Council District 4 special election Vacancy resulting from the death of Charles L. Lewis :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | George Stevens | 4,615 | 34.29 |
| | Democratic | Tony Young | 3,102 | 23.04 |
| | Democratic | Dwayne Crenshaw | 2,898 | 21.54 |
| | Nonpartisan | Marissa Acierto | 1,210 | 8.99 |
| | Republican | Bruce Williams | 917 | 6.81 |
| | Nonpartisan | Jim Galley | 260 | 1.93 |
| | Nonpartisan | Gloria Tyler-Mallery | 252 | 1.87 |
| | Nonpartisan | Patrick DeShields | 205 | 1.52 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 13,459 | 100 |
| General election |||||
| | Democratic | Tony Young | 6,911 | 59.42 |
| | Democratic | George Stevens | 4,719 | 40.58 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 11,630 | 100 |

### 2005–2006 District 2 special election

Michael Zucchet resigned from office in July 2005 when he was convicted of corruption as a result of the FBI investigation known as Operation G-Sting, though he was later cleared of all charges. Kevin Faulconer, who had been the runner-up in the 2002 election against Zucchet, ran again in the crowded special election. He received the most votes in the primary election on November 8, 2005, and was elected with a majority of the votes in the runoff on January 10, 2006.
2005–2006 San Diego City Council District 2 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Michael Zucchet :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Kevin Faulconer | 15,912 | 34.44 |
| | Democratic | Lorena Gonzalez | 11,543 | 24.98 |
| | Nonpartisan | Carolyn Chase | 4,090 | 8.85 |
| | Nonpartisan | Rich Grosch | 2,906 | 6.29 |
| | Nonpartisan | Tim Rutherford | 2,442 | 5.29 |
| | Nonpartisan | Kathleen Blavatt | 1,848 | 4.00 |
| | Nonpartisan | Ian Trowbridge | 1,746 | 3.78 |
| | Nonpartisan | Pat Zaharopoulos | 1,273 | 2.76 |
| | Nonpartisan | Phil Meinhardt | 1,054 | 2.28 |
| | Nonpartisan | Tom Eaton | 754 | 1.63 |
| | Nonpartisan | Greg Finley | 615 | 1.33 |
| | Nonpartisan | David Diehl | 470 | 1.02 |
| | Nonpartisan | James Joaquin Morrison | 441 | 0.95 |
| | Nonpartisan | George Najjar | 280 | 0.61 |
| | Nonpartisan | Robert E. Lee | 250 | 0.54 |
| | Nonpartisan | Allen Hujsak | 242 | 0.52 |
| | Nonpartisan | Linda Susan Finley | 202 | 0.44 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 52,154 | 100 |
| General election |||||
| | Republican | Kevin Faulconer | 15,044 | 51.23 |
| | Democratic | Lorena Gonzalez | 14,320 | 48.77 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 29,448 | 100 |

### 2005–2006 District 8 special election

Ralph Inzunza resigned from office in July 2005 when he was convicted of corruption as a result of the FBI investigation known as Operation G-Sting. Ben Hueso ran in the special election to replace Inzunza. He advanced to the special runoff election after receiving the plurality of the votes in the special primary on November 8, 2005. Hueso was elected to office with a majority of the votes in the runoff on January 10, 2006.
2005–2006 San Diego City Council District 8 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Ralph Inzunza :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Ben Hueso | 7,454 | 38.15 |
| | Republican | Luis Acle | 3,621 | 18.53 |
| | Nonpartisan | Remigia Bermudez | 3,018 | 15.45 |
| | Nonpartisan | Dan Coffey | 1,601 | 8.19 |
| | Nonpartisan | Kathy Vandenheuvel | 1,060 | 5.43 |
| | Nonpartisan | Douglas Holbrook | 800 | 4.09 |
| | Nonpartisan | Tim Gomez | 775 | 3.97 |
| | Republican | Lincoln Pickard | 595 | 3.05 |
| | Nonpartisan | Matthew Moncayo | 537 | 2.75 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 21,000 | 100 |
| General election |||||
| | Democratic | Ben Hueso | 6,408 | 70.60 |
| | Republican | Luis Acle | 2,600 | 28.65 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 9,090 | 100 |

### 2013 District 4 special election

On November 17, 2012, Council President Tony Young announced that he would resign from the City Council early to become CEO of the San Diego-Imperial Counties chapter of the American Red Cross, triggering a special election. Nine candidates qualified for the special primary election, scheduled for March 26, 2013. Myrtle Cole, who had been endorsed by the local Democratic Party and the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, received the most votes in the primary. She advanced to the May 21, 2013 general election to face runner-up Dwayne Crenshaw, Executive Director of San Diego LGBT Pride. Cole was elected to the City Council with a majority of the votes in the runoff.
2013 San Diego City Council District 4 special election Vacancy resulting from the resignation of Tony Young :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Myrtle Cole | 4,304 | 32.3 |
| | Democratic | Dwayne Crenshaw | 2,025 | 15.2 |
| | Democratic | Brian "Barry" Pollard | 1,548 | 11.6 |
| | Democratic | Ray Smith | 1,207 | 9.1 |
| | Democratic | Blanca Lopez Brown | 1,084 | 8.1 |
| | Republican | Sandy Spackman | 1,067 | 8.0 |
| | Democratic | Bruce Williams | 1,059 | 8.0 |
| | Democratic | Tony Villafranca | 621 | 4.7 |
| | Democratic | Monica Montgomery | 404 | 3.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 13,319 | 100 |
| General election |||||
| | Democratic | Myrtle Cole | 6,612 | 54.1 |
| | Democratic | Dwayne Crenshaw | 5,603 | 45.9 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 12,215 | 100 |