With recently re-elected San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria unable to run again in 2028 because of term limits, potential candidates to replace him as the region’s most high-profile politician are starting to emerge. The two candidates most discussed in local political circles, U.S. Rep. Scott Peters and City Councilmember Raul Campillo, both said this week they are “seriously considering” a run for San Diego mayor three years from now. Peters, a former City Council member just elected to his seventh term in Congress, is considered an early favorite based on strong name recognition, lengthy experience and an impressive fundraising track record. He is considered such a strong candidate that any decision by Peters not to run would be expected to encourage many other candidates to run, making the race more of a free-for-all. While it’s hard to predict the political landscape so far into the future, the list of candidates who might run if Peters bows out could include his fellow Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs, Assemblymember David Alvarez, Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez or former state Sen. Toni Atkins. A wide-open race could also spur interest from other members of the current City Council in addition to Campillo, such as Sean Elo-Rivera, Marni von Wilpert or Kent Lee. There’s also the possibility that a well-funded political outsider could enter the race. Daniel Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune with no government experience, was elected San Francisco mayor in November. San Diego mayor is considered a highly appealing job because it’s the rare elected position that is also a chief executive job. Under San Diego’s strong-mayor form of government, the mayor runs the city’s day-to-day operations. Peters nearly ran for San Diego mayor in 2020. He didn’t announce his decision not to run until the two other leading candidates, Gloria and Barbara Bry, had already begun fundraising in early 2019. “People will say that I wouldn’t win and I can’t stop them, but the polling was solid, and we would have had the resources we needed,” Peters said back then when announcing his decision not to run. Peters said he opted to stay in Congress because he had a crucial role to play. “I just think I’ve got more to accomplish here and it’s a particularly critical time for the country,” he said. A top Peters aide said by email this week that he is still focused on his work in Congress, but that he’s also interested in becoming mayor. “San Diegans are counting on him to continue to solve the region’s biggest challenges from Washington,” said the aide, MaryAnne Pintar. “He is completely dedicated to making San Diego a better place to live and work, so, yes, he is seriously considering a run for mayor in 2028.” Campillo expressed similar sentiments in a phone interview this week. “Right now I’m hyper-focused on my work on City Council and tackling issues like public safety, infrastructure and economic development,” Campillo said. “But I’m seriously considering a run for mayor. I’ve given it a good amount of thought.” Both Peters and Campillo made it known in local political circles last fall that they would likely run in a special election for mayor if Gloria were to be re-elected but then leave for a possible job in a Kamala Harris presidential administration. Peters served on the City Council from 2000 to 2008, including three years as council president. He also served on the Port Commission before getting elected to Congress. That long run in local politics has given him strong name recognition and the experience and connections to raise the significant money necessary to win a race for San Diego mayor. Peters would be considered hard to challenge from the right because of his reputation as a moderate Democrat, which has helped him get repeatedly endorsed for Congress by the relatively conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Among Republicans, newly elected Assemblymember Carl DeMaio is considered the only potential 2028 mayoral candidate at this point. But a run by DeMaio is considered unlikely, because he would face long odds with registered Democrats in the city outnumbering registered Republicans by a ratio of more than 2-to-1. Peters is considered more vulnerable to a challenge from the left, but Campillo is not in a strong position to make such a challenge because he’s also seen as a moderate Democrat. The strongest strategy for Campillo, 37, could be to emphasize the nearly 30-year age gap between himself and Peters, 66. That could allow Campillo to portray himself as the leader of a new wave of Democrats. He could also emphasize his Latino heritage, which includes growing up in a binational family. His parents came to the U.S. from Calexico, and he still has family in Mexicali. Campillo could contend he looks more like the future of San Diego than Peters, who is White, as the city becomes more diverse. Elo-Rivera, who built a strong progressive coalition on the City Council during a three-year run as council president, could be a viable challenger to Peters from the left. But Elo-Rivera served on Peters’ 2014 campaign for Congress, which would make him unlikely to challenge Peters. Montgomery Steppe, who was part of Elo-Rivera’s progressive council coalition before leaving for a county supervisor seat in 2023, could be in a better position to challenge Peters from the left. If she gets re-elected to her supervisor seat in 2026, she could run for mayor in 2028 without having to give up that seat. If Peters bows out, Jacobs could consider a run. She has solid name recognition and a similar fundraising track record but far less experience. She’s also part of Democratic Party leadership in Congress. A wide-open race could also tempt Alvarez, a Democrat who lost to Kevin Faulconer in the 2014 special election to replace Mayor Bob Filner. But Alvarez would have to give up his Assembly seat to run. And he’s not termed out of state office until 2034. Gonzalez, a former City Council candidate who left the Assembly after nine years to become a statewide labor leader in 2022, could also be tempted if Peters bows out. She has better name recognition, experience and fundraising chops than any other potential candidate but Peters. And if elected, she could be San Diego’s first Latina mayor. Atkins, a former City Council member and longtime member of the state Legislature, would bring qualities similar to Gonzalez’s. Atkins has announced she will be part of a crowded field running for governor in 2026, but it’s not clear what her plans would be if she doesn’t win that race. Among current council members, von Wilpert has announced she will run for state Senate in 2026. If she wins that race, a run for mayor two years later seems unlikely. Lee has been ambitious during his first two years on the council, leading two key committees in his second year and being mentioned as a possibility for council president before Joe LaCava was chosen last month.