Mike Schaefer

John Michael Schaefer[1] (born March 25, 1938) is an American politician and perennial candidate who served in the San Diego city council in the 1960s and then ran for numerous local and state offices before winning election to the California Board of Equalization in 2018.

Mike Schaefer
Member of the
California State Board of Equalization
from the 4th District
Assumed office
January 7, 2019
Preceded byDiane Harkey
Member of the
San Diego City Council
from the 8th District
In office
1965–1971
Succeeded byJim Bates
Personal details
Born
John Michael Schaefer

(1938-03-25) March 25, 1938
San Diego, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations		Republican
Children2
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
Georgetown University Law Center (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.[2][3][4]

Career

During the 1960 presidential election, he supported Senator John F. Kennedy and later served as a staff assistant for state senator Thomas Kuche.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7] 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, for state legislative seats in Arizona, Nevada, and Maryland, for the mayoralties of Baltimore and Palm Springs.[6] 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.[8]

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.[9] 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, who 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.[10]

In 1970, he was arrested for bribery and conspiracies charges in the Yellow Cab bribery scandal, but was later acquitted after an eleven hour deliberation by a jury on January 21, 1971.[10][11]

Schaefer bought properties in multiple states, including the Schaefer Hotel which he bought for $450,000, and he was successfully sued by his tenants in Los Angeles for the low quality of his housing and they were awarded $1.83 million.[9]

In 1993, he was convicted of misdemeanor spousal abuse and was later disbarred by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2001.[10] In 2015, he was ordered to pay $328 to his live-in landlord.[12]

Electoral history
Mike Schaefer electoral history
1965 San Diego city council District 8 primary[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Nonpartisan Mike Schaefer 1,993 16.68%
Nonpartisan Herb Watson 1,898 15.88%
Nonpartisan Grandison M. Phelps, Jr. 1,744 14.59%
Nonpartisan Vernon Hughes 1,510 12.63%
Nonpartisan Oril R. Olson 1,104 9.24%
Nonpartisan George Stevens 1,080 9.04%
Nonpartisan Phil Saenz 705 5.90%
Nonpartisan D. M. Pfeifer 589 4.93%
Nonpartisan Harvey Jones 574 4.80%
Nonpartisan Maudeen Stephens 384 3.21%
Nonpartisan Doris Palm 262 2.19%
Nonpartisan Raymond E. Peters 109 0.91%
Total votes 11,952 100.00%
1965 San Diego city council District 8 election[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Nonpartisan Mike Schaefer 72,836 58.21%
Nonpartisan Herb Watson 52,292 41.79%
Total votes 125,128 100.00%
1967 San Diego city council District 8 primary[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Nonpartisan Mike Schaefer (incumbent) 7,411 63.32%
Nonpartisan Art Akers 2,165 18.50%
Nonpartisan Z. D. Atkinson III 1,178 10.06%
Nonpartisan Alberta M. Wells 951 8.13%
Total votes 11,705 100.00%
1967 San Diego city council District 8 election[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Nonpartisan Mike Schaefer 102,899 76.96%
Nonpartisan Art Akers 30,800 23.04%
Total votes 133,699 100.00%
1968 California Thirty Seventh Congressional district Republican primary[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Mike Schaefer 29,813 75.45%
Republican Jack C. McClure 7,668 19.41%
Republican James P. Wucher 2,033 5.15%
Total votes 39,514 100.00%
1968 California Thirty Seventh Congressional district election[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Lionel Van Deerlin (incumbent) 96,130 64.66% +3.49
Republican Mike Schaefer 52,547 35.34% -3.49%
Total votes 148,677 100.00%
gollark: Well, that's more interesting than your idea.
gollark: Ever played (Sid Meier's) Civilization series?
gollark: Well, a small one, yes.
gollark: That's not a civilization. That is a small tribe.
gollark: Go do it. Off you go.

References
  1. "John Michael Schaefer".
  2. "A Bit About Mike ..." Chula Vista Star-News. November 3, 1968. p. 28. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "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.
  4. "Mike Schaefer – Member, Board of Equalization, 4th District". www.boe.ca.gov. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  5. "Mike Schaefer Sworn in As Oldest Elected Official in State". December 28, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
  6. "Mike Schaefer's long and winding road to a win". June 23, 2019. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
  7. "Mike Schaefer, no relation to William Donald, makes claim to estate". June 23, 2011. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
  8. "Nevada Supreme Court removes Schaefer from ballot". April 16, 2014. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020.
  9. "Mike Schaefer, 80, running for office again". May 3, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  10. "Mike Schaefer makes political comeback with baggage and jokes". November 16, 2018. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020.
  11. "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.
  12. "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.
  13. "San Diego City Council - District 8 - Primary 1965". December 31, 2011.
  14. "San Diego City Council - District 8 1965". December 31, 2011.
  15. "San Diego City Council - District 8 - Primary 1967". December 31, 2011.
  16. "San Diego City Council - District 8 1967". December 31, 2011.
  17. "CA District 37 - R Primary 1968". March 31, 2012.
  18. "CA District 37 1968". June 17, 2004.
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