SAN DIEGO — The long political journey of Bob Filner, a 10-term U.S. congressman, concluded with his passing at the age of 82. Filner, who once served as Mayor of San Diego before stepping down amid sexual misconduct accusations, died on April 20 surrounded by his children. This was reported in an obituary by the San Diego Union-Tribune, with no cited cause of death. At the time, Filner had been residing in an assisted living facility in Costa Mesa, Orange County.
Following his resignation as San Diego’s mayor in 2013, Filner largely withdrew from the public eye. His resignation speech mirrored the same fiery and defiant rhetoric that had defined his entry into politics and his past as a civil rights activist in the 1960s. Nevertheless, Filner relinquished his position as mayor of the country’s eighth-largest city amidst numerous allegations of sexual harassment from at least 17 women.
Filner later pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and battery charges concerning three women. His punishment included three months of home confinement and a three-year probation period. In addition to these court cases, San Diego disbursed over $1 million to resolve various lawsuits submitted by the claimants.
His mayoral tenure lasted less than nine months into what was supposed to be a four-year term, marking him as San Diego’s first Democratic mayor in two decades.
Born on September 4, 1942, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Robert Earl Filner embarked on his political path as a college sophomore at Cornell University. During the 1961 Freedom Rides, aimed at protesting the segregation in the South, he was jailed in Mississippi for two months due to charges stemming from a confrontation at a bus station.
In 1970, Filner began teaching history at San Diego State University, a position he held for over 20 years. His first official political role was on the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education. Followed by his election to the City Council and later to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, where he represented as a progressive Democrat advocating for veterans, marginalized groups, and labor unions. Notably, as the chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, he helped obtain $200 million for Filipino World War II veterans as part of the 2009 stimulus package.
Filner left Congress in 2012 and successfully ran for Mayor of San Diego. He is survived by his daughter, Erin Filner, his son, Adam Filner, his brother, Bernard Filner, two grandchildren, and two former wives, Barbara Christy, and Jane Merrill.