NEW YORK (JTA) — U.S. Rep. Bob Filner was elected the mayor of San Diego.
Filner (D-Calif.), who is Jewish, won 51.5 percent of the vote on Tuesday to edge his Republican opponent, City Councilman Carl DeMaio, who had 48.5 percent.
DeMaio conceded to Filner on Wednesday.
Filner, 70, will be leaving the House of Representatives after serving 10 years; he is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He will be the first Democrat in 20 years to serve as mayor of San Diego, America’s eighth most-populated city.
A veteran of the civil rights movement, Filner was arrested as an 18-year-old Freedom Rider in Mississippi.
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