General Requirements for Candidacy

Candidates for public office in the City of San Diego must be citizens of the United States and at least 18 years of age. In order to run for Mayor, a candidate must be a registered voter of the City of San Diego for at least 30 days prior to the date of filing nomination papers, and a resident in and registered voter of the City of San Diego at the time of assuming the office.

Candidates must appear in person in the City Clerk's Office during the nomination period in order to obtain nominating papers.

Candidate orientations are scheduled for specific times during the nomination period. Please contact the City Clerk?s Office at (619) 533-4000 to reserve a time for orientation. If reserving to attend evening orientation, a potential candidate must provide the Clerk the address where he/she is registered to vote no later than 12:00 p.m. the day of the orientation.

More information

All required papers must be filed at the same time, prior to the end of the nomination period. No candidate shall file nominating papers for more than one office at any election.

For more information on running for office in the City of San Diego, please contact the City Clerk's Office at (619) 533-4000. You may also want to review provisions for nominations, San Diego Municipal Code sections 27.0201 through 27.0222 (PDF).

For information regarding the City's Election Campaign Control Ordinance [ECCO], which regulates contribution limits, payment of campaign vendors, disclosures required on campaign advertisements, etc., please contact the Ethics Commission at(619) 533-3476.