City elections in San Diego, California (2020)

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2022
2018
2020 San Diego elections
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Election dates
Filing deadline: December 6, 2019
Primary election: March 3, 2020
General election: November 3, 2020
Election stats
Offices up: Mayor, city attorney, and city council districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9
Total seats up: 7 (click here for mayoral elections)
Election type: Nonpartisan
Other municipal elections
U.S. municipal elections, 2020

The city of San Diego, California, held general elections for mayor, city attorney, and city council districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for March 3, 2020. The two candidates who received the most votes in the primary advanced to the general election. The filing deadline for this election was December 6, 2019.[1]

San Diego is a city in San Diego County, California. For information on 2020 elections in San Diego County, click here.

Click here to learn more about the city's mayoral election.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

California modified its absentee/mail-in and in-person voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Absentee/mail-in voting: Mail-in ballots were sent to all registered voters in the general election.
  • In-person voting: Counties were authorized to consolidate precincts and defer opening voting centers until the third day before the election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

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Elections

Click on the tabs below to show more information about those topics.

Candidates and results

City attorney

General election

General election for San Diego City Attorney

Incumbent Mara Elliott defeated Cory Briggs in the general election for San Diego City Attorney on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Mara_elliott.jpg
Mara Elliott (Nonpartisan)
 
66.6
 
380,291
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Cory_Briggs.JPG
Cory Briggs (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
33.4
 
190,893

Total votes: 571,184
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for San Diego City Attorney

Incumbent Mara Elliott and Cory Briggs defeated Pete Mesich in the primary for San Diego City Attorney on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Mara_elliott.jpg
Mara Elliott (Nonpartisan)
 
67.9
 
208,767
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Cory_Briggs.JPG
Cory Briggs (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
23.3
 
71,672
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Pete Mesich (Nonpartisan)
 
8.8
 
27,223

Total votes: 307,662
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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City Council District 1

General election

General election for San Diego City Council District 1

Joe LaCava defeated Will Moore in the general election for San Diego City Council District 1 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/JoeLaCava2024.jpg
Joe LaCava (Nonpartisan)
 
61.0
 
42,613
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Will Moore (Nonpartisan)
 
39.0
 
27,250

Total votes: 69,863
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for San Diego City Council District 1

The following candidates ran in the primary for San Diego City Council District 1 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/JoeLaCava2024.jpg
Joe LaCava (Nonpartisan)
 
24.1
 
10,335
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Will Moore (Nonpartisan)
 
16.4
 
7,054
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Aaron Brennan (Nonpartisan)
 
14.9
 
6,399
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/SamNejabat.jpg
Sam Nejabat (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
13.7
 
5,884
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/LZ.png
Lily Zhou (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
9.1
 
3,910
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/jr.png
James Rudolph (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
8.2
 
3,505
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Harid Puentes (Nonpartisan)
 
7.8
 
3,340
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Louis_Rodolico.jpg
Louis Rodolico (Nonpartisan)
 
5.8
 
2,484

Total votes: 42,911
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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City Council District 3

General election

General election for San Diego City Council District 3

Stephen Whitburn defeated Toni Duran in the general election for San Diego City Council District 3 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/swhitburn.jpg
Stephen Whitburn (Nonpartisan)
 
63.0
 
49,119
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/tduran3.JPG
Toni Duran (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
37.0
 
28,813

Total votes: 77,932
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for San Diego City Council District 3

Stephen Whitburn and Toni Duran defeated Chris Olsen, Michelle Nguyen, and Adrian Kwiatkowski in the primary for San Diego City Council District 3 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/swhitburn.jpg
Stephen Whitburn (Nonpartisan)
 
31.1
 
14,844
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/tduran3.JPG
Toni Duran (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
22.7
 
10,836
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Chris Olsen (Nonpartisan)
 
20.3
 
9,705
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Michelle Nguyen (Nonpartisan)
 
17.5
 
8,340
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Adrian Kwiatkowski (Nonpartisan)
 
8.4
 
3,996

Total votes: 47,721
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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City Council District 5

General election

General election for San Diego City Council District 5

Marni von Wilpert defeated Joe Leventhal in the general election for San Diego City Council District 5 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Marni von Wilpert (Nonpartisan)
 
53.2
 
43,630
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Joe Leventhal (Nonpartisan)
 
46.8
 
38,308

Total votes: 81,938
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for San Diego City Council District 5

Marni von Wilpert and Joe Leventhal defeated Isaac Wang and Simon Moghadam in the primary for San Diego City Council District 5 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Marni von Wilpert (Nonpartisan)
 
39.8
 
18,084
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Joe Leventhal (Nonpartisan)
 
36.9
 
16,778
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Feb172020139PM_80182230_IsaacWang.jpg
Isaac Wang (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
19.3
 
8,764
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Simon Moghadam (Nonpartisan)
 
4.0
 
1,836

Total votes: 45,462
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

City Council District 7

General election

General election for San Diego City Council District 7

Raul Campillo defeated Noli Zosa in the general election for San Diego City Council District 7 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Raul Campillo (Nonpartisan)
 
55.0
 
40,310
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Noli Zosa (Nonpartisan)
 
45.0
 
32,963

Total votes: 73,273
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for San Diego City Council District 7

Raul Campillo and Noli Zosa defeated Wendy Wheatcroft and Monty McIntyre in the primary for San Diego City Council District 7 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Raul Campillo (Nonpartisan)
 
35.9
 
15,025
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Noli Zosa (Nonpartisan)
 
30.5
 
12,783
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Wendy Wheatcroft (Nonpartisan)
 
20.4
 
8,526
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Monty McIntyre (Nonpartisan)
 
13.3
 
5,558

Total votes: 41,892
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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City Council District 9

General election

General election for San Diego City Council District 9

Sean Elo-Rivera defeated Kelvin Barrios in the general election for San Diego City Council District 9 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/serivera.jpeg
Sean Elo-Rivera (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
62.7
 
26,835
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Kelvin Barrios (Nonpartisan)
 
37.3
 
15,990

Total votes: 42,825
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for San Diego City Council District 9

The following candidates ran in the primary for San Diego City Council District 9 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Kelvin Barrios (Nonpartisan)
 
31.6
 
7,426
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/serivera.jpeg
Sean Elo-Rivera (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
20.5
 
4,819
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Johnny Lee Dang (Nonpartisan)
 
14.8
 
3,473
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Andrew Gade (Nonpartisan)
 
9.5
 
2,222
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Ross Naismith (Nonpartisan)
 
8.5
 
1,997
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Sam Bedwell (Nonpartisan)
 
8.5
 
1,986
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Alex Soto (Nonpartisan)
 
6.7
 
1,564

Total votes: 23,487
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at elections@ballotpedia.org.

Ballot measures

See also: California 2020 ballot measures

March 3

See also: March 3 local ballot measures

Statewide:

County:

City:

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: California elections, 2020

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What was at stake?

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About the city

See also: San Diego, California

San Diego is the county seat of San Diego County. As of 2020, its population was 1,386,932.

City government

See also: Mayor-council government

The city of San Diego uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body while the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[2]

Demographics

The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographic Data for San Diego, California
San Diego California
Population 1,386,932 39,538,223
Land area (sq mi) 326 155,858
Race and ethnicity**
White 54.5% 48.1%
Black/African American 5.9% 5.6%
Asian 17.4% 15.1%
Native American 0.6% 1%
Pacific Islander 0.4% 0.4%
Two or more 12.8% 13.5%
Hispanic/Latino 30.1% 39.7%
Education
High school graduation rate 89.7% 84.4%
College graduation rate 48.7% 35.9%
Income
Median household income $98,657 $91,905
Persons below poverty level 7.1% 8.5%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

There are no Pivot Counties in California. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won California with 61.7 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 31.6 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, California voted Republican 53.33 percent of the time and Democratic 43.33 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, California voted Democratic all five times. In 2016, California had 55 electoral votes, which was the most of any state. The 55 electoral votes were 10.2 percent of all 538 available electoral votes and were 20.4 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Assembly districts in California. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[3][4]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 58 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 38.4 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 66 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 40.3 points. Clinton won 11 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 22 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 12.2 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 14 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 13 points.


See also

San Diego, California California Municipal government Other local coverage
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External links

Footnotes