By Arturo Castañares
Editor-at-Large
Three former Republican elected city leaders now head up three of the area's top civic groups, even as Democrats hold every elected position in the City of San Diego.
This week, former San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey was announced as the new CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers’ Association, while former Councilman Chris Cate leads the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, and former San Diego City Councilman and Mayor Kevin Faulconer leads the San Diego Lincoln Club business league.
The three men served in office concurrently from 2014 to 2020.
Kersey, who served two terms on the City Council from 2012 to 2020, took over the local taxpayer advocacy group after its former leader, Haney Hong, resigned last March. The organization monitors government agencies and awards its annual Golden Fleece Award for the worst use of taxpayer dollars, as well as its Media Watchdog Award for news coverage of local agencies.
Mark Kersey
In 2019, Kersey dropped his Republican Party registration after having been endorsed by his party in both of his elections.
After serving on the City Council, Kersey, 49, ran his own consulting firm and also helped launch a small batch Bourbon brand, Cask & Coast Spirits.
Last July, Faulconer was named President and CEO of the Lincoln Club, a local political action group that supports business-friendly candidates -albeit mostly Republicans- but last year endorsed Democratic City Councilman Stephen Whitburn in his re-election.
Kevin Faulconer
Faulconer served on the San Diego City Council from 2006 to 2014, then won a special election to fill a vacancy for Mayor left after Bob Filner resigned in his first year in office over sexual harassment claims. Faulconer was later elected to a full four-year term as Mayor through 2020.
After leaving office, Faulconer worked as a political and policy consultant.
In November 2024, Faulconer lost his campaign to unseat San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer.
Last April, former City Councilman Chris Cate was selected as the President & CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the largest business advocacy group in the county, representing over 2,000 businesses. Cate succeeded Jerry Sanders, who led the group for 12 years after having served two terms as San Diego Mayor and previously served as San Diego Chief of Police.
Chris Cate
Cate was elected to the City Council from 2014 to 2022 and was the last Republican to serve on the Council, which is now completely dominated by Democrats. After leaving office, Cate served as a political consultant on several campaigns.
Although the three organizations have traditionally been considered right-of-center in their political views, that was during the time when the City and County were also Republican leaning, which has dramatically changed in the last 20 years.
Voter registration in the City of San Diego is now 46% Democrat, 21.3% Republican, and 25.3% declined to state. The County is slightly less left-leaning with 42.6% Democrats, 25.2% Republican, and 24.5% declines to state.
In 2005, the City party registrations were 38.9% Democratic, 33.4% Republican, and 22.9% declined to state.
But, 20 years ago, the County was still Republican-leaning with 37.8% Republicans, 36% Democrats, and 21.6% declined to state.
The County and City have steadily become more Democratic-leaning since a major shift in party registration occurred in response to the 1994 statewide Proposition 187, which sought to deny undocumented immigrants access to social safety net programs, healthcare, and education.
The backlash toward then-Governor Pete Wilson and his Republican Party among Latinos and liberal Democrats spurred a dramatic increase in Democratic Party voter registrations and re-registrations of Republicans to nonpartisans.
In fact, the first time a Democratic candidate won the county against a Republican candidate in a head-to-head matchup occurred just four years after Prop 187 when Gray Davis first ran for Governor in 1998 against then-Attorney General Dan Lungren. Davis defeated Lungren by a margin of 49.5% to 46.3% within the County, and by a wider 57.9% to 38.4% margin statewide.
In recent years, several Republicans running for office in San Diego County have dropped their Republican Party registration to win elections in the left-leaning region.
Kelly Martinez re-registered from Republican to Democrat after voting for Donald Trump in 2020 in preparation for her run for County Sheriff in 2022. Martinez secured the endorsement of several high-profile elected Democrats, including San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, State Senator Toni Atkins and Congressmen Scott Peters and Juan Vargas.
In that same election year, San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan ran for re-election after having dropped her party registration to nonpartisan two years earlier, and her campaign consultant was Dan Rottenstreich, the husband of labor union head Bridget Browning, a prominent Democratic leader.
Democrats now hold all nine of the City Council seats, the Mayor’s office, and the elected City Attorney’s position.
At the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, three of the five members —Terra Lawson-Remer, Monica Montgomery, and Paloma Aguirre— are Democrats, and only Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson are Republicans. For most of San Diego County’s history, Republicans held a majority, if not a complete lock, on the Board of Supervisors.
The majority flipped to Democrats when Lawson-Remer was elected in 2020 to flip the 3rd Supervisorial District, and Nora Vargas won District 1. At the time, Nathan Fletcher was the lone Democrat on the Board. Fletcher resigned in 2023 amid sexual harassment claims made by a female transit agency employee. Montgomery was elected in a special election to replace Fletcher.
The only countywide elected Republican is County Assessor Jordan Marks, who was first elected in 2022, and is currently running for re-election.
Last year, longtime Republican County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister resigned in August after serving nearly 24 years in the position. Supervisors appointed Democrat Larry Cohen to fill McAllister’s vacancy. Cohen is now running for a full term in this year’s election, with two Republican challengers: Supervisor Joel Anderson and CPA Shirley Nakawatase.
In South San Diego County, the only Republican officeholders are Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, and Imperial Beach Councilmembers Carol Seabury and Mariko Nakawatase. Other former Republicans have dropped their party registrations, including National City Mayor Ron Morrison, Imperial Beach Mayor Mitch McKay, and Imperial Beach Councilman Jack Fisher.
Last week, Republican El Cajon City Councilman Gary Kendrick, the longest-serving Republican in San Diego County, dropped his party registration after 50 years and became a Democrat, saying the Republican Party has become “irredeemable.” Kendrick is now the only Democrat on the five-member City Council that includes four Republicans.
