Mike Schaefer

For other people with similar names, see Michael Schäffer.

John Michael Schaefer^[1] (born March 25, 1938) is an American politician and former perennial candidate who served on the San Diego City Council from 1965 to 1971 and then ran for 33 local and state offices in California, Arizona, Maryland, and Nevada for nearly half a century before unexpectedly winning election to the California Board of Equalization in 2018.^[2] Schaefer is the oldest Californian to serve in a state constitutional office.^[3][4]

Mike Schaefer
Member of the California State Board of Equalization from the 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2019
Preceded by	Diane Harkey
Member of the San Diego City Council
In office 1965–1971
Personal details
Born	John Michael Schaefer (1938-03-25) March 25, 1938 (age 86) San Diego, California, U.S.
Political party	Republican (before 2004) Democratic (2004–present)
Children	2
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BA) Georgetown University (JD)

Early life and education

John Michael Schaefer was born in San Diego, California, on March 25, 1938. He graduated from Mission Bay High School in 1956, and earned a Bachelor of Business from the University of California, Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center.^[5][6][7]

Career

Schaefer in 1965 as a member of the San Diego City Council.

During the 1960 presidential election, he supported U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy and later served as a staff assistant for state Senator Thomas Kuchel.^[3] He also worked as an analyst for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In 1965, Schaefer was elected to the San Diego City Council and served until 1971. In 1968, he received the Republican nomination in California's 37th House district, but was defeated by incumbent Representative Lionel Van Deerlin. In 1971, he ran for mayor in the open primary, but received less than one percent of the vote. In 1974, he ran for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State in Nevada, but was defeated by Stanley W. Paher.^[2]

In the 1980s, he moved to Maryland where he befriended William Donald Schaefer, who served as the mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland, and Mike Schaefer believed that sharing a last name with him would help him politically and following Schaefer's death in 2011 Mike filed a $28,000 claim to William's estate.^[8] In 1986, he ran for the Republican nomination for Maryland's Senate election, but was defeated by Linda Chavez.

From the 1990s to the 2010s, he ran for local offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Secretary of State of California, state legislative seats in Arizona, Nevada, and Maryland, and mayor in Baltimore and Palm Springs.^[2] In 2014, he was removed from the Nevada state controller primary and the decision was upheld by the Nevada Supreme Court as he had failed to meet the residency requirements.^[9]

In 2018, he initially sought to run for California's 54th State Assembly district, but later dropped out as he would rather remain in San Diego and ran in the Board of Equalization's 4th district.^[10] He ran as a member of the Democratic Party and placed second in the top-two primary behind state senator Joel Anderson. On November 6, 2018, Schaefer unexpectedly defeated Anderson by a narrow margin; Anderson had spent over $300,000 to Schaefer's $25,000. This was attributed to the Democratic wave and Anderson being reprimanded for his comments to a female lobbyist.^[11]

Schaefer was briefly a Democratic candidate for California's 47th congressional district in the 2024 election, but later switched to the race for the U.S. Senate in Nevada.^[12] He lost the primary election to the incumbent Senator Jacky Rosen.^[13]

Asked why he regularly runs for office, Schaefer said that he loves to run for office.^[14]

Legal issues

In 1970, Schaefer was arrested for bribery and conspiracy in the 1970 Yellow Cab bribery scandal, but was later acquitted after an eleven-hour deliberation by a jury on January 21, 1971.^[11][15]

Schaefer bought properties in multiple states, including the Schaefer Hotel which he bought for $450,000. He was successfully sued by his tenants in Los Angeles for the low quality of his housing and they were awarded $1.83 million.^[4][10]

In 1993, Schaefer was convicted of misdemeanor spousal abuse and was disbarred by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2001.^[11] In 2015, he was ordered to pay $328 to his live-in landlord.^[16]

In 2013, comedian Brad Garrett filed a restraining order against Schaefer, stating in his application: "As a celebrity, I am very concerned about stalkers who seek notoriety by associating themselves with me." Under the order, Schaefer is also banned from the MGM Grand Las Vegas.^[17]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Kevin Kiley

Year	Office	Party		Primary			General			Result	Swing		Ref.
				Total	%	P.	Total	%	P.
1965	San Diego City Council (8th)		Nonpartisan	1,993	16.68%	1st	72,836	58.21%	1st	Won		N/A	[18]
1967	San Diego City Council (8th)		Nonpartisan	7,411	63.32%	1st	102,899	76.96%	1st	Won		N/A	[18]
1968	U.S. House (CA 37th)		Republican	29,813	75.45%	1st	52,547	35.34%	2nd	Lost		Hold
1974	Nevada Secretary of State		Republican	11,376	36.32%	2nd	Did not advance			Lost		Hold	[19]
1984	San Diego City Attorney		Nonpartisan	60,585	32.48%	2nd	Did not advance			Lost		N/A	[20]
1986	U.S. Senate (MD)		Republican	16,902	12.24%	2nd	Did not advance			Lost		Gain
1990	San Diego County Board of Supervisors (4th)		Nonpartisan	15,562	23.99%	2nd	Did not advance			Lost		N/A	[21]
1990	LA City Council		Nonpartisan	127	1.03%	8th	Did not advance			Lost		N/A
1990	California State Assembly		Republican	3,200	6.05%	4th	Did not advance			Lost		Gain
1994	San Diego County District Attorney		Nonpartisan	43,134	10.47%	5th	Did not advance			Lost		N/A	[22]
1996	U.S. House (NV 2)		Republican	1,188	1.51%	6th	Did not advance			Lost		Gain	[23]
1999	S.F. District Attorney		Nonpartisan	5,468	3.13%	5th	Did not advance			Lost		N/A
2001	U.S. House (CA)		Republican	2,315	2.58%	9th	Did not advance			Lost		Hold
2001	LA City Council		Nonpartisan	258	1.20%	9th	Did not advance			Lost		N/A
2002	CA Secretary of State		Republican	409,215	20.68%	2nd	Did not advance			Lost		Gain
2002	Clark County, Nevada Public Administrator		Republican	11,565	21.49%	2nd	Did not advance			Lost		Hold	[24]
2002	U.S. House (AZ)		Republican	933	1.75%	6th	Did not advance			Lost		Gain
2004	Nevada Senate (1st)		Democratic	922	18.98%	3rd	Did not advance			Lost		Gain	[25]
2006	U.S. Senate (MD)		Democratic	7,770	1.32%	5th	Did not advance			Lost		Hold
2007	Mayor of Baltimore		Democratic	762	0.89%	6th	Did not advance			Lost		Hold
2010	Baltimore City Sheriff		Democratic	4,398	7.73%	4th	Did not advance			Lost		Hold
2012	Nevada Assembly (16th)		Democratic	286	23.68%	2nd	Did not advance			Lost		Hold	[26]
2013	LA City Council		Nonpartisan	359	1.87%	11th	Did not advance			Lost		N/A
2015	LA City Council		Nonpartisan	268	1.10%	12th	Did not advance			Lost		N/A
2015	Mayor of Palm Springs		Nonpartisan	124	1.08%	8th	Did not advance			Lost		N/A	[27]
2016	U.S. House (NV 4th)		Democratic	773	2.53%	6th	Did not advance			Lost		Gain	[28]
2017	LA City Council		Nonpartisan	266	1.22%	13th	Did not advance			Lost		N/A
2018	CA Board of Equalization		Democratic	269,044	17.04%	2nd	1,559,373	52.21%	1st	Won		Gain
2022	CA Board of Equalization		Democratic	597,948	35.90%	1st	1,241,062	58.85%	1st	Won		Hold
2024	U.S. Senate (NV)		Democratic	3,521	2.24%	4th	Did not advance			Lost		TBD

References

1. "John Michael Schaefer".
2. "Mike Schaefer's long and winding road to a win". June 23, 2019. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
3. "Mike Schaefer Sworn in As Oldest Elected Official in State". December 28, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
4. Cabanatuan, Michael (March 8, 2022). "He's been convicted, disbarred and called a slumlord. Now he's endorsed by the California Democratic Party". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
5. "A Bit About Mike ..." Chula Vista Star-News. November 3, 1968. p. 28. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Mike Schaefer San Diego councilman". Imperial Beach Star-News. May 30, 1968. p. 10. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Mike Schaefer – Member, Board of Equalization, 4th District". www.boe.ca.gov. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
8. "Mike Schaefer, no relation to William Donald, makes claim to estate". June 23, 2011. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
9. "Nevada Supreme Court removes Schaefer from ballot". April 16, 2014. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020.
10. "Mike Schaefer, 80, running for office again". May 3, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
11. "Mike Schaefer makes political comeback with baggage and jokes". November 16, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
12. https://docquery.fec.gov/pdf/884/202402060300461884/202402060300461884.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
13. Hubbard, Kaia (June 11, 2024). "Sam Brown, Jacky Rosen win Nevada Senate primaries to set up November matchup - CBS News". CBS News. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
14. Winger, Richard (June 21, 2024). "California State Elected Official Runs for U.S. Senate in Nevada Democratic Primary". Retrieved July 10, 2024.
15. "Jury Clears San Diego Councilman Schaefer". The Los Angeles Times. January 22, 1971. p. 22. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "The Blue Wave Brought With it a Candidate Dems Might Prefer to Leave Adrift". November 15, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
17. "Stalker's message to Garrett: No comp, no peace". Las Vegas Review-Journal. May 30, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
18. "Election History - Council District 8, City of San Diego" (PDF). San Diego City Clerk. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 17, 2024.
19. "Summary of Vote in Primary Election Held September 3, 1974". Nevada Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 17, 2024.
20. "Election History- City Attorney, City of San Diego" (PDF). San Diego City Clerk. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 17, 2024.
21. "1990 San Diego County election results" (PDF). San Diego County. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 17, 2024.
22. "1994 San Diego County election results". San Diego County. Archived from the original on March 17, 2024.
23. "1996 Official Primary Election Returns". Nevada Secretary of State. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 17, 2024.
24. "2002 primary election". Clark County, Nevada. Archived from the original on March 18, 2024.
25. "2004 Statewide Primary Election Reports". Nevada Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 18, 2024.
26. "Official Results of the 2012 Primary Election". Nevada Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 18, 2024.
27. "Riverside County Consolidated Udel Election November 3, 2015". Riverside County, California. November 3, 2015. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024.
28. "2016 U.S. House of Representatives primary results". Nevada Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 18, 2024.