2022 San Diego City Council election

The 2022 San Diego City Council election was held on November 8, 2022. The primary election was held on June 7, 2022. Four of the nine seats of the San Diego City Council were contested.

Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan, although most members do identify a party preference. A two-round system was used for the election, starting with a primary in June followed by a runoff in November between the top-two candidates in each district.

The election resulted in a 9-0 Democratic majority on the city council for the first time in San Diego history.

Campaign
The even-numbered districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 were up for election in 2022. It was the first city council election to use the newly redrawn districts following the 2020 Census.

Incumbents Jennifer Campbell (District 2), Monica Montgomery Steppe (District 4), and Vivian Moreno (District 8) stood for reelection. Chris Cate (District 6) was ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits. Republicans were considered vulnerable to lose their last seat, District 6, since it leaned more Democratic following redistricting. All three eligible incumbents won re-election, while Democrat Kent Lee flipped District 6 from Republican to Democrat control, cementing a 9-0 Democratic majority.

District 2
District 2 consisted of the communities of Bay Ho/Bay Park/Morena, Midway/North Bay, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, and Point Loma.

Democratic incumbent Jennifer Campbell had faced a recall campaign in 2021 over her stance on the city's regulation of vacation rentals and her support of an exemption to the 30-foot height limit in San Diego's Midway District. Recall proponents claimed that Campbell had made decisions contradictory to promises she had made to constituents during the election. The recall effort ultimately failed to collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, but prompted a large number of candidates to challenge Campbell in the 2022 election.

Democratic incumbent Jennifer Campbell and Linda Lukacs, a retired Republican dentist, defeated four Democratic challengers and advanced from the primary on June 7, 2022. Campbell went on to defeat Lukacs 56.% to 43.5% in the general election.

District 4
District 4 consisted of the communities of Alta Vista, Broadway Heights, Chollas View, Emerald Hills, Encanto, Greater Skyline Hills, Jamacha, Lincoln Park, Lomita Village, North Bay Terrace, Oak Park, O'Farrell, Paradise Hills, Redwood Village, Rolando Park, South Bay Terrace, Valencia Park, and Webster.

Democratic incumbent Monica Montgomery Steppe and Gloria Evangelista, a Republican dietician, advanced from the primary on June 7, 2022. Montgomery Steppe went on to defeat Evangelista 68.8% to 31.2% in the general election.

District 6
District 6 consisted of the communities of Clairemont Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Mira Mesa, Mission Valley, North Clairemont, and Rancho Peñasquitos.

Incumbent Chris Cate was ineligible for re-election due to term limits. Kent Lee and Tommy Hough, both Demcorats, advanced from the primary on June 7, 2022. Lee went on to defeat Hough 60.5% to 39.5%.

District 8
District 8 consisted of the southern communities of San Diego and those along the Mexico–United States border, including the communities of Barrio Logan, Egger Highlands, Grant Hill, Logan Heights, Memorial, Nestor, Ocean View Hills, Otay Mesa West, Otay Mesa East, San Ysidro, Sherman Heights, Stockton, and Tijuana River Valley.

Incumbent Vivian Moreno and Antonio Martinez, both Democrats, advanced from the primary on June 7, 2022. Moreno went on to defeat Martinez 63.3% to 36.7%.

Council president
On December 10, 2022, the new council was sworn in. The council voted to re-appoint Sean Elo-Rivera as council president, who had served in that role since 2021.