Faulconer wins mayor’s race

Republican City Councilman Kevin Faulconer won a decisive victory over Democratic Councilman David Alvarez in the San Diego mayor’s race Tuesday, signaling a new chapter for the city after the scandal-plagued tenure of former Mayor Bob Filner.

Faulconer had 54.5 percent compared to Alvarez’s 45.5 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting.

A Faulconer victory breathes new life into the local Republican Party by restoring its control of the Mayor’s Office that its candidates have occupied for much of the past four decades. Faulconer also becomes the only Republican mayor of a top 10 U.S. city, making him one of the party’s highest-profile leaders in the state.

The results dashed the hopes of Alvarez to become San Diego’s first Latino mayor and its youngest in nearly 120 years. It also blunted a push by Democrats to have a like-minded mayor join the party’s 5-4 majority on the City Council to shepherd a new era of progressive politics for America’s Finest City.

Special mayoral election

• How Faulconer won it
• Faulconer brings city to familiar ground
• Map: How each precinct voted for mayor
• Faulconer win has lessons for state GOP
• Faulconer wins mayor’s race
• Editorial: A new mayor for San Diego

Final election results, complete coverage

The runoff election will fill the vacancy left by Democrat Bob Filner’s Aug. 30 resignation stemming from a sexual harassment scandal. Faulconer will finish the remaining 33 months on Filner’s term and be up for re-election in 2016.

A jubilant Faulconer appeared before supporters about 10:40 p.m. but stopped short of declaring victory.

“We know that this city has gone through a lot in the last year, but we knew that as San Diegans that we were better than that and that we were going to come together when we had the opportunity to do that and come together we have,” he said.

Faulconer added, “And so tonight our message to every single San Diego neighborhood: We will invest where we need to help, we will get our city back on track on the services that San Diegans expect and that they deserve.”

Alvarez spoke to his supporters around 10:15 p.m. thanking them for their hard work on his campaign and remained optimistic despite the poor showing.

“While there are still votes to be counted tonight — the night is young — one thing is for certain: we are here, poised to move our city forward because of every single one of you here,” he said.

Alvarez later told U-T San Diego that the issues confronting the city won’t change, regardless of the election results.

“We still have a lot of work ahead regardless of the outcome,” he said. “I look forward to that as mayor or as a member of the council.”

He later said on Twitter that he called Faulconer and conceded the election. “I want to congratulate Kevin Faulconer. It’s clear that he will be the next mayor of San Diego. I look forward to working with him,” he wrote.

Faulconer responded to Alvarez via Twitter: “Thank you for a respectful campaign. As mayor, I look forward to working with you to move our city forward.”

1/15

Mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer, his wife, Katherine, Councilman Scott Sherman, and campaign manager Stephen Puetz rejoice as the first returns come in showing Faulconer leading David Alvarez by a comfortable margin.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

2/15

San Diego mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer addresses supporters at the U.S. Grant Hotel.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

3/15

Elizabeth Spillane wears a Kevin Faulconer for Mayor box during an election night party at the U.S. Grant Hotel.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

4/15

San Diego mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer addresses supporters at the U.S. Grant Hotel.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

5/15

San Diego mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer makes his way through a crowd of supporters as he arrives at the U.S. Grant Hotel.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

6/15

A TV at the Faulconer election night party near the U.S. Grant Hotel shows David Alvarez’s statement.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

7/15

Katherine Faulconer watches as a supporter uses a Faulconer box as a prop during an election night party near the U.S. Grant Hotel.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

8/15

San Diego mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer reviews his election night speech with campaign staff members and advisors including staff member Matt Awbrey, before heading to the U. S. Grant Hotel where supporters were gathered.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

9/15

San Diego mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer addresses supporters at the U.S. Grant Hotel.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

10/15

Candidate Kevin Faulconer & his mother, Kay Faulconer Boger hug as they watch returns come in showing Faulconer leading opponent David Alvarez by a comfortable margin.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

11/15

San Diego mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer reviews his speech before heading to the U. S. Grant Hotel where supporters were gathered.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

12/15

Former California Governor Pete Wilson & San Diego mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer look at a smart phone during an election night party near the U.S. Grant Hotel, where supporters gathered in anticipation of his appearance.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

13/15

Kevin Faulconer, his wife Katherine, family and friends, watch a TV, as David Alvarez makes a statement during an election night party.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

14/15

A TV at Kevin Faulconer’s election night party near the U.S. Grant Hotel shows Faulconer leading David Alvarez by a comfortable margin.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

15/15

San Diego mayoral candidate Kevin Faulconer addresses supporters at the U.S. Grant Hotel.  (Howard Lipin/U-T San Diego)

Conventional wisdom held that Faulconer would have a lead among the mail ballots collected before Election Day, but the 13-point edge he held at 8 p.m. when those results were released was much larger than most pundits expected. An early advantage for Faulconer was anticipated because Republican-leaning voters have historically been consistent and reliable voters in most elections, especially in special ones.

Alvarez and his supporters knew this and had geared up for a big get-out-the-vote push to get Democratic-leaning voters to the polls in the hopes of catching and then passing Faulconer with the Election Day tally.

The early lead by Faulconer, however, was too much to overcome. His margin of victory took most by surprise. A U-T San Diego/10News poll published Sunday that was conducted by SurveyUSA showed Faulconer with just a one-point lead.

The race began in earnest in September with 11 candidates after Filner’s downfall. Faulconer and Alvarez finished first and second, respectively, in the Nov. 19 special election to win spots in Tuesday’s runoff.

The two candidates offered vastly different political views, giving voters a clear choice.

Alvarez, 33, of Barrio Logan, is a self-described progressive Democrat who supports raising the minimum wage, increasing developer fees for affordable housing projects and asking voters to approve the sale of bonds to fund infrastructure projects. Faulconer opposes each.

Faulconer, 47, of Point Loma, is a pro-business Republican who supports putting certain city services up for competitive bid with the private sector, replacing pensions with 401(k)-style plans for most new city hires and financing the new convention center expansion with a hotelier-approved surcharge on hotel guests. Alvarez opposes each.

Alvarez and his supporters raised nearly $5.2 million, including $4.2 million from labor unions, compared to nearly $4.2 million raised on Faulconer’s behalf, including $1.7 million from business groups.

The money pouring in led Faulconer to criticize Alvarez as beholden to unions and unwilling to follow through on the financial fixes the city implemented following a pension scandal.

Alvarez hammered Faulconer for his longtime ties to the business community, saying his record shows he’ll back corporations and developers over neighborhoods when given the choice.

Former Mayor Jerry Sanders, one of Faulconer’s biggest backers, said he was thrilled with the election results.

“I am so excited for the city of San Diego,” Sanders said. “I’m excited that we have a mayor with experience. A mayor with integrity. A mayor with the leadership ability to bring people together and get this city moving again after all the problems we’ve had.”

Labor leader Mickey Kasparian, one of Alvarez’s high-profile supporters, expressed disappointment at trailing by so much so early.

“We knew going in that David Alvarez would be behind with absentee ballots,” Kasparian said

One of the stark differences between the candidates was in how they campaigned.

Faulconer and his supporters targeted moderates and independents with their campaign advertising, assuming that he would win a large percentage of the Republican electorate with little effort. He even used blue campaign signs — traditionally a color for Democrats — offered a bipartisan message and rarely mentioned his Republican affiliation.

Alvarez and his supporters focused largely on exciting the base of the Democratic Party and getting Latino voters to show up big on Election Day.

Republican political consultant John Dadian, who was not involved in the race, said Faulconer’s early lead was too big to overcome.

“I think Faulconer really worked the north city neighborhoods, and clearly the numbers coming in from there show that hard work paid off,” he said.

Voter turnout of Tuesday’s election was about 43 percent, up from the 36 percent of voters who cast ballots in the November election.

The tentative date for Faulconer’s inauguration is March 3 and interim Mayor Todd Gloria will continue to lead until then.

The City Council would then have 30 business days to appoint a replacement to finish Faulconer’s term, which expires in December.