Kevin Faulconer—a Republican and the former mayor of San Diego—announced his candidacy July 11 for the San Diego Board of Supervisors District 3 seat in the upcoming 2024 election.
The district covers Coronado to Carlsbad and is currently represented by Democratic Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, who is seeking reelection.
Mr. Faulconer was a San Diego councilman from 2006 to 2014 and then served as its mayor from 2014 to 2020.
Thus far, one focus of Mr. Faulconer’s, according to his campaign website, is homelessness in the county.
“As Mayor, I tackled homelessness by quickly opening shelters with safe, clean beds and making sure [homeless persons] had access to mental health services and drug and alcohol treatment,” he wrote on Twitter about his candidacy. “As Supervisor, I will aggressively build shelters to make sure every person has a safe place to wash, sleep, and get the help they need.”
Point-in-time county data show homelessness declined by nearly 1,000 people during Mr. Faulconer’s tenure as mayor to approximately 7,600. The 2023 count shows there are now over 10,000 homeless in the county.
According to his campaign website, Mr. Faulconer also has goals of supporting police with funding and increased staffing and working to lower housing costs for everyone in the county.
Ms. Lawson-Remer responded to Mr. Faulconer’s entering the race on Twitter, the day of his announcement.
“Kevin Faulconer was a complete failure as Mayor,” she wrote. “Faulconer is a lifelong politician who has been running for office, any office, for 22 years. He has no moral compass.”
Mr. Faulconer additionally ran for governor of California in 2021 during the recall election against Gov. Gavin Newsom and received 8 percent of the vote.
