“2004 San Diego mayoral election”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The 2004 San Diego mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004 to elect the mayor for San Diego. Incumbent mayor Dick Murphy stood for reelection for a second term.

Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan, though some candidates do receive funding and support from various political parties. The non-partisan primary was held Tuesday, June 3, 2004. Murphy and county supervisor Ron Roberts received the most votes and advanced to the November special general election.^[1]

After the primary San Diego City Council member Donna Frye entered the race as a write-in candidate for the November general election. Murphy was certified as winner with a narrow plurality of the votes in the general election over runner-up Frye. This result was subject to a recount and litigation before ultimately being upheld by the courts in February 2005.

Candidates

Declared

Write-in

Campaign

In the March primary Dick Murphy received the most votes but not a majority, denying him the outright majority needed for an outright victory. This was the first time in twenty years that an incumbent mayor was forced to face a runoff election. San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts received the second most votes and advanced to the general election alongside Murphy. Roberts had also been the runner-up in the 2000 mayoral election against Murphy.^[3]

After the primary elections, San Diego City Council member Donna Frye announced that she would run as a write-in candidate. Frye ran a maverick campaign against Murphy and Roberts, who were both considered establishment candidates by the media. Frye was the only member of the city council to vote against the underfunding of San Diego's pension liabilities that led to the San Diego pension scandal. As mayor, Murphy had voted in favor of the underfunding.^[4]

Recount and litigation

In the general election, Dick Murphy was certified as winner of a plurality of votes by a margin of 2,108 votes over runner-up Frye. However, news outlets uncovered 5,547 ballots that were not counted on which voters had written in Frye's name but not filled in the adjacent oval. If these votes had been counted, Frye would have been elected mayor instead of Murphy. Members of the media requested a recount indirectly on Frye's behalf, leading to allegations of bias from Murphy's lawyers.^[4]

Attorney Fred Woocher filed a lawsuit on behalf of three voters contesting Murphy's victory due to the 5,000 uncounted ballots. On February 2, 2005, Judge Michael Brenner ruled that the unfilled ovals did not count as votes under California state law, ending the post-election litigation battle.^[5]

Aftermath

In April 2005, only two months after the results of the election were officially upheld by the courts, Murphy announced that he would be resigning as mayor. In the face of a deepening pension scandal that he was personally involved in, Murphy stated that San Diego needed a mayor with the support of the majority of residents and a clear mandate to lead the city out of its crisis.^[6] The city held a special election to fill the vacancy at mayor.

In response to Donna Frye's nearly successful write-in candidacy, the San Diego City Council amended the municipal code so that write-in candidates could not run in general elections or run-off elections. Write-ins are still permitted in primary elections and recall elections.^[7]

Primary election results

General election results

References

1. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.sandiego.gov/city-clerk/elections/city/run.shtml|title=How to Run for Office|accessdate=April 13, 2012|work=The City of San Diego-Office of the City Clerk}}
2. ^{{cite news|last1=Perry|first1=Tony|title=In San Diego Mayor's Race, Wilson Still Sets the Style|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2000/feb/12/news/mn-63624|accessdate=October 19, 2014|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=February 12, 2000}}
3. ^¹{{cite news|last=Vigil|first=Jennifer|title=Ewell orders big changes at City Hall|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040422/news_1n22shakeup.html|accessdate=24 December 2012|newspaper=San Diego Union-Tribune|date=22 April 2004}}
4. ^¹{{cite news|last=Rainey|first=James|title=Media's role clouds San Diego recount: Push to examine ballots stirs debate on impartiality|url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/12/25/medias_role_clouds_san_diego_recount/|accessdate=24 December 2012|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=25 December 2004}}
5. ^{{cite news|last=Moran|first=Greg|title=Quick decision turns aside challenges in mayoral race|url=http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050203/news_1n3ballot.html|accessdate=24 December 2012|newspaper=San Diego Union-Tribune|date=3 February 2005}}
6. ^{{cite news|title=San Diego mayor resigns amid pension fund probe|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-04-25-mayor-resigns_x.htm|accessdate=23 December 2012|newspaper=USA Today|date=25 April 2005}}
7. ^{{cite web|title=Article 7: Elections, Campaign Finance and Lobbying, Division 3: Write-In Candidates|url=http://docs.sandiego.gov/municode/MuniCodeChapter02/Ch02Art07Division03.pdf|work=Municipal Code|publisher=City of San Diego|accessdate=24 December 2012}}
8. ^¹²³⁴{{cite web|title=Election History - Mayor of San Diego|url=http://www.sandiego.gov/city-clerk/pdf/mayorresults.pdf|publisher=City of San Diego|accessdate=23 December 2012}}