Republican councilman Kevin Faulconer will be the next mayor of San Diego. He beat Democratic Councilman David Alvarez in a special runoff election to replace disgraced former mayor Bob Filner.
Faulconer earned 54.5 percent of the vote to Alvarez’s 45.5 percent total, reports The Los Angeles Times. The county registrar of voters’ unofficial numbers showed that voter turnout was at 37 percent.
“We know that this city has gone through a lot in the past year, but we knew that as San Diegans we were better than that,” Faulconer told his supporters Wednesday night, reports KPBS. That was likely a reference to the scandal surrounding Filner that brought San Diego negative national attention.
Faulconer did speak with Alvarez after the election and Alvarez congratulated Faulconer on Twitter.
I just spoke with @AlvarezSD. Thank you for a respectful campaign. As mayor, I look forward to working with you to move our city forward.
— Kevin Faulconer (@kevin_faulconer) February 12, 2014
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.
— David Alvarez (@AlvarezSD) February 12, 2014
Filner, 71, resigned in August amid sexual harassment allegations from multiple women. He was the city’s first Democratic mayor in 20 years, but is now serving time at home after he pleaded guilty to felony false imprisonment and two misdemeanor battery charges, NBC San Diego reported in December.
Faulconer will be sworn in on March 3 and will serve the rest of Filner’s term.