Scandal-Weary San Diego Gets a New Mayor

More than five months after Bob Filner resigned as mayor, San Diego has chosen a new one: Republican Kevin Faulconer, a city councilman. Yesterday's special election saw a clear win for Faulconer, who beat fellow councilman David Alvarez 54.5% to 45.5%, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Faulconer will replace Filner, who resigned in August amid a sexual harassment scandal. "We know that this city has gone through a lot in the last year, but we knew that as San Diegans that we were better than that," Faulconer said last night.

"We will get our city back on track on the services that San Diegans expect and that they deserve," said Faulconer. The victory makes him one of California's leading Republicans, the Union-Tribune notes. Had Alvarez won, the Democrat would have become the city's first Latino mayor, as well as its youngest in more than a century. Alvarez was endorsed this weekend by President Obama, KPBS notes. Faulconer will be sworn in March 3, the Los Angeles Times reports. (More San Diego stories.)