Special San Diego mayoral election will be held Nov. 19

By James R. Riffel

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The City Council Wednesday scheduled a Nov. 19 special election to replace outgoing San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.

City Clerk Elizabeth Maland said the latest estimate from the county Registrar of Voters was that it could cost as much as $6.2 million to hold the election to replace Filner, whose resignation becomes official at 5 p.m. Friday.

She cautioned that the estimate could change, but would soon be made more precise.

Maland said she and county Registrar Michael Vu studied several dates but the one selected “is really the only viable option.’’

The registrar’s office can provide election services to the city on that date, and it allows for a full two-week nomination period, Maland said.

In the election, if one candidate wins more than 50 percent of the votes, that person would assume office Dec. 17, according to Maland. If not, a runoff election would be held, which would add to the city’s expense, she said.

She also told the council members that it could be difficult to schedule a runoff within the 49-day period called for by the City Charter.

Filner tendered his resignation last week after nearly 20 women publicly accused him of sexual harassment. He is also under investigation for alleged misuse of city-issued credit cards and shakedowns of developers.

Ten candidates have expressed their intention to run in the special election, including ex-Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher. Now an executive with Qualcomm, he finished third in the June 2012 mayoral primary.