San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer retains office with 58 percent of vote

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — Incumbent San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer retained office as California primary results from Tuesday rolled in, gathering 58 percent of the vote. His competitors, Independent Lori Saldana and Democrat Ed Harris, were unable to hold him off  to force a vote in the November election. 

Faulconer gathered 58 .2percent of the vote with 100 percent now reporting. Saldana followed behind at 22.5 percent, with Harris close at third with 19.2 percent of the vote. The Mayor took the podium at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday as the results came in, announcing his acceptance of retaining office in San Diego. Votes were still being counted, but the initial projection looked favorable enough for Faulconer to claim an early victory. 

Related Link: San Diego County primary election results

Faulconer’s approval rating has been in the 60 percent range, making many political analysts project he would win the election outright in the primary. Saldana was the only initial opposing mayoral candidate, but the emergence of Harris in March altered the path for Faulconer to remain in office. Analysts poised that the two candidates were in position to split enough votes away from Faulconer to force a campaign battle into the November general election. 

Saldana had previously served on the California State Assembly for District 76. Harris previously served on San Diego City Council and is a Marine corps veteran. Faulconer was on San Diego City Council from 2002 up until becoming mayor in 2014. 

Faulconer will extend his stay in office which began in Feb. of 2014. He beat David Alvarez with 52.4 percent of the vote to replace Mayor Bob Filner following his resignation. Faulconer’s focused his efforts on improving San Diego’s infrastructure since becoming mayor, recently announcing the city set a new record for most miles of road repaired in the span of a year.