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The City of San Diego

2024-2025 Mayor for a Day

On December 10, 2020, Todd Gloria was sworn in as the 37th Mayor of the City of San Diego – America’s eighth largest city. He is the first person-of-color and the first LGBTQ person to ever be elected the city’s Mayor.

A third-generation San Diegan of Filipino, Dutch, Puerto Rican, and Native American descent, Mayor Gloria’s lifelong career in public service was inspired by a lesson his parents – a hotel maid and a gardener – taught him at a young age: if you care about something, then you should leave it better than you found it. That lesson continues to motivate Mayor Gloria to improve San Diego every single day.

Mayor Gloria grew up in the Clairemont neighborhood and attended Madison High School. He was interested in politics from childhood. At age 10, he was runner-up in a "mayor for a day" contest. Thirty-two years later, he was sworn in as San Diego’s 37th Mayor.

After a successful competition last year, Mayor Gloria is excited to host his fourth annual Mayor for a Day contest!

The “Mayor for a Day” contest aims to foster and encourage leadership in young people living in San Diego. City of San Diego K-12 students are invited to write an essay or submit a video about what San Diego would be like if they were Mayor for a day. The selected winner will be given the opportunity to shadow the Mayor for a day and will be included in the State of the City address in January of 2025.

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Mayor for the Day Applicant

Applicant (Student)

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Mayor for the Day Guardian/Parent

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Submit a brief essay (approximately 500 words) or short video (no more than 3 minutes) on how you would make the City of San Diego a better place if you were the Mayor.

Last day to apply and submit essay(s) or video: November 8th 2024 at 11:59pm

For any questions about your essay or the submission process, please email Community Representatives, Korral Taylor.

Thank you for your participation, and best of luck!

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