Toni Atkins

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Categories: California Democrats | San Diego | Gay Democrats

Toni Atkins
San Diego City Council
Party	Democratic
November 7, 2000
Preceded by	Christine Kehoe
Succeeded by	-
Birthdate	August 1, 1962

On July 18, 2005, Councilwoman Toni Atkins became the city of San Diego's third mayor in less than a week. Former mayor Dick Murphy, facing criticism over his mismanagement of the city's pension fund, had resigned five months into his second term, effective July 15, and Councilman and Deputy Mayor Michael Zucchet had been slated to take over as acting mayor until a city-wide special election on July 26. Zucchet, however, was himself facing legal trouble, and was forced to resign when he and Councilman Ralph Inzunza were convicted of corruption charges on July 18. The San Diego city council unanimously selected Atkins to serve as Mayor-pro-tem until the special election.

In the July 26 special election, no candidate received greater than 50% of the vote, and so Atkins remained as acting mayor until the November runoff election, when former police chief Jerry Sanders defeated Councilwoman Donna Frye.

Atkins was first elected to represent San Diego's District 3 (Hillcrest, North Park, Talmadge, Mid-City, University Heights, Balboa Park) in November 2000. With her selection as the city's acting mayor in 2005, San Diego surpassed Providence, Rhode Island as the largest American city with an openly gay or lesbian chief executive.