Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who for much of his career was one of the California GOP's few rising stars until he took part in the disastrous 2021 recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom, announced Tuesday that he'd mount a comeback next year by running to flip a pivotal seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
Faulconer will take on Democratic incumbent Terra Lawson-Remer, whose 2020 win gave her party its first majority on the Board in over 30 years, and once again, the race will likely determine control of the county government. Lawson-Remer's 3rd District backed Joe Biden 63-34 and supported Newsom 59-41 last year, but Republicans are hoping that Faulconer's profile will give him an opening in what is an officially nonpartisan contest. The first round of voting will take place March 5, which is the same day as California's presidential primary, and the two contenders with the most votes will advance to the November general election.
First, though, the city will host a special election this year for another seat that leans even further to the left. Democratic Supervisor Nathan Fletcher resigned from the 4th District in May after a former county employee sued him for sexual assault, a departure that came half a year after he won a second four-year term 65-35. As a result, the Board is currently deadlocked 2-2, but Democrats are favored to retain Fletcher's seat, which favored Biden and Newsom 69-26 and 66-34, respectively.
The Democratic contenders in that race are Marine veteran Janessa Goldbeck, who lost the top-two primary for the defunct 53rd Congressional District in 2020 to now-Rep. Sara Jacobs, and San Diego City Councilmember Montgomery Steppe. The GOP, meanwhile, is fielding Amy Reichert, a conservative activist who lost to Fletcher last year, and Marine veteran Paul McQuigg. All four will face off on Aug. 15, and, unless one person wins a majority, a runoff would take place Nov. 7.
Barring a nasty surprise for Democrats this year, though, the 2024 battle between Lawson-Remer and Faulconer will likely be the one that decides control of the Board of Supervisors for years to come. Republican incumbent Joel Anderson is also up for reelection next year in the 2nd District, which just barely backed Biden by a 49.1-48.6 margin, but Republican Brian Dahle beat Newsom here 55-45. Democratic Supervisor Nora Vargas likewise is defending the dark blue 1st District, while the final member of the body is Republican Jim Desmond, who won a new four-year term last year.
Faulconer's launch comes a little less than two years after his once-promising political career took a huge hit. He'd surged to prominence in early 2014 when he won a special election to succeed scandal-ridden Mayor Bob Filner, a Democrat who had managed to briefly put his party in control of city hall in 2012. Faulconer then easily won reelection in 2016 as head of the state's second-largest city, and it looked like it would only be a matter of time before he ran statewide.
But his long-awaited campaign for governor did not go the way his supporters expected. The Republican, who was termed out as mayor at the end of 2020, originally talked about challenging Newsom when the governor was next set to appear on the ballot in 2022. He adjusted his plans, however, after conservatives collected enough signatures to force a recall vote against Newsom in 2021, becoming one of many Republicans who competed to replace the incumbent. (The recall was a two-part question: Voters were first asked if they favored or opposed ousting Newsom and then which candidate they wanted as his successor.)
Given the nature of today's Republican Party, what unfolded was unsurprising. The former mayor, a self-described "vanilla" politician who had cultivated a moderate image in office, was quickly overshadowed by far-right radio host Larry Elder, and he never managed to gain traction with the GOP base. Newsom's team was more than happy to ignore Faulconer and frame the recall as a choice between a Democratic governor who was taking the pandemic seriously and an extremist opponent of vaccine and mask mandates, and the strategy worked as intended. The recall failed 62-38 and, to add insult to injury, Faulconer took a distant third place with just 8% on the now-meaningless second question to replace Newsom.
Faulconer thought about taking on the governor again in 2022 as he had originally planned but sat the race out, arguing that "the lingering effects of the circus that unfolded toward the end of last year’s recall make it extremely difficult to relaunch the type of campaign I would want to run." Lawson-Remer, though, is doing what she can to make sure Faulconer doesn't get to launch the type of effort he now wants to run against her.
"Kevin Faulconer was a complete failure as Mayor," the Democratic supervisor said in a statement Tuesday. "Faulconer is a lifelong politician who has been running for office, any office, for 22 years. He has no moral compass, claiming to be a moderate but voting for Trump in 2020 and defending that vote even after the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Our county deserves better."