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
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2019
Preceded by	Diane Harkey
Member of the San Diego City Council from the 8th District
In office 1965–1971
Succeeded by	Jim Bates
Personal details
Born	John Michael Schaefer March 25, 1938 San Diego, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Republican
Children	2
Education	University 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]

Legal issues

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]

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.” Garrett included information that Schaefer might have a propensity for violence because in 1992 he had a spousal abuse conviction, and in 1998 he was under house arrest for shoving a woman and for pepper-spraying a man. Under the order, Schaefer is also banned from the MGM Grand Las Vegas.[13]

Electoral history

Mike Schaefer electoral history

1965 San Diego city council District 8 primary[14]

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[15]

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[16]

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[17]

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[18]

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[19]

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%

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. "Stalker's message to Garrett: No comp, no peace". Las Vegas Review-Journal. May 30, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
14. "San Diego City Council - District 8 - Primary 1965". December 31, 2011.
15. "San Diego City Council - District 8 1965". December 31, 2011.
16. "San Diego City Council - District 8 - Primary 1967". December 31, 2011.
17. "San Diego City Council - District 8 1967". December 31, 2011.
18. "CA District 37 - R Primary 1968". March 31, 2012.
19. "CA District 37 1968". June 17, 2004.