Jim Desmond

Jim Desmond is the Republican candidate for the open 48th District seat. He is a San Diego County supervisor, a former mayor of San Marcos, a U.S. Navy veteran and a retired Delta Air Lines pilot.[2][3] He first launched a campaign in the 49th District, then ran in the 48th after Rep. Darrell Issa announced he would not seek re-election, and says he is running on affordability, homelessness treatment and border security.[1][2][3]

Desmond was born in Illinois and served in the U.S. Navy as an aircraft electrician from 1974 to 1979, then earned a pilot's license.[1][3] He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1985 and founded a technical writing company, Technical Standards, Inc.[1][3] From 1986 to 2020 he flew for Delta Air Lines, piloting Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft, and he retired early in 2020; he describes himself as a retired Delta pilot.[2][3]

Desmond served on the San Marcos City Council from 2004 to 2006 and was elected mayor of San Marcos in 2006, winning re-election unopposed in 2010 and 2014.[3] He won the District 5 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in 2018 and took office in January 2019, and was re-elected in 2022 with 60.1% of the vote.[1][3] In 2025 he launched a campaign against Rep. Mike Levin in the 49th District, then in 2026 announced a run for the 48th District after redistricting under Proposition 50; Rep. Issa, who is not seeking re-election, endorsed him.[1][3] According to Wikipedia, he is married with two children and lived in Oceanside as of 2022.[3]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.