# San Diego County Board of Supervisors

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is the legislative and executive branch of the county government of San Diego County, California. Though officially nonpartisan, two Democrats and two Republicans currently comprise the Board of Supervisors, with the fifth seat currently vacant.

## History

Between 1995 and 2013, the same five people, all Republican, held seats in the Board of Supervisors: Greg Cox, Bill Horn, Diane Jacob, Ron Roberts, and Pam Slater-Price. In 2012, Democrat Dave Roberts won the seat from the retiring Slater-Price, who endorsed his candidacy. However, Encinitas mayor Kristin Gaspar, a Republican, unseated the lone Democrat in 2016, whose campaign was harmed by a workplace scandal. In 2018, Nathan Fletcher defeated former San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to take Ron Roberts' seat, returning a Democrat to the Board of Supervisors.
In the 2020 election, the Democrats won control of the Board of Supervisors for the first time in decades as Nora Vargas and Terra Lawson-Remer won elections in their respective supervisory districts. Meanwhile, Republican former state senator Joel Anderson narrowly defeated Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, a fellow Republican, to succeed the retiring Jacob.
Nathan Fletcher, the supervisor representing district 4, resigned in 2023 amid sexual misconduct allegations, prompting a special election in which Monica Montgomery Steppe was elected to his former seat. Montgomery Steppe is the first Black woman to serve as a supervisor in the county's history, and her inauguration marked the first time a majority of the supervisors were women.
Nora Vargas was re-elected to another term in November 2024, but on December 20, she announced that she will not be taking the oath of office in January 2025 "due to personal safety and security reasons." As a result, the Board of Supervisors was split between two Democrats and two Republicans. A special election to fill Vargas' seat is scheduled for April 8, 2025, with a runoff on July 1 if no candidate wins a majority of the votes. The role of chair likewise remains vacant, as the board failed to agree on a replacement.

## Governance

Following Proposition B's passage by San Diego County voters in 2010, county supervisors became limited to two terms of four years. The proposition did not immediately affect incumbent supervisors, whose current and previous terms did not count.

## Members

In accordance with Article II, Section 6 of the Constitution of California, members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors are officially nonpartisan.
| District | Supervisor | Party |
| 1 | Vacant | |
| 2 | Joel Anderson | Republican |
| 3 | Terra Lawson-Remer | Democratic |
| 4 | Monica Montgomery Steppe | Democratic |
| 5 | Jim Desmond | Republican |

### Committees

As of the term beginning January 2021, the Board of Supervisors has the following nine committees.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Committees :
| Committee | Chairs | Chairs |
| Affordable Housing Solutions Ad Hoc Subcommittee | Terra Lawson-Remer | Joel Anderson |
| Child and Family Strengthening Advisory Board | | |
| COVID-19 Issues Ad Hoc Subcommittee | | |
| County Administration Center Building Occupancy/Waterfront Park | | |
| Multiple Species Conservation Program Review/North County Multiple Species Conservation Program | Terra Lawson-Remer | Jim Desmond |
| Polinsky Children's Center/San Pasqual Academy | | |
| San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station Fuel Removal | Jim Desmond | Terra Lawson-Remer |
| Schools Subcommittee | Terra Lawson-Remer | |
| Summit on Aging | Terra Lawson-Remer | Joel Anderson |
* California portal