San Diego City Council elections, 2008

San Diego City Council election, 2008

← 2006 November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04) 2010 →
4 of 8 seats on the San Diego City Council
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 5 3 Seats after 6 2 Seat change 1 1
Council President before election Scott Peters Democratic Elected Council President Ben Hueso Democratic

Scott Peters
Democratic

Ben Hueso
Democratic

The 2008 San Diego City Council election occurred on November 4, 2008. The primary election was held on June 5, 2008. Four of the eight seats of the San Diego City Council were contested. This was the last election for the odd-numbered districts using the boundaries created by the 2000 Redistricting Committee. No incumbent council members were eligible to run for reelection due to term limits.

Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan, although most members do identify a party preference. A two-round system was used for the election, starting with a primary in June followed by a runoff in November between the top-two candidates if no candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round.

The 2008 election was the last to use the eight district boundaries created by the 2000 Redistricting Commission for the odd numbered districts. Seats in districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 were up for election.

Prior to 2008, there had never been an openly gay member of the San Diego City Council. In the June primary for District 5, Carl DeMaio, a Republican, won a majority of the vote to become San Diego's first openly gay person elected to city council. In the November general election, Todd Gloria, joined him as the second openly gay council member and the first openly gay Democratic council member to be elected.

District 1 consisted of the communities of Black Mountain Ranch, Carmel Valley, Del Mar Mesa, La Jolla, Pacific Highlands Ranch, Rancho Peñasquitos, Torrey Highlands, Torrey Hills, Torrey Pines, and University City. Incumbent council member Scott Peters was ineligible to run due to term limits. After advancing out of the primary with a plurality of the vote Sherri Lightner was elected with a majority of the vote in the general election.

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