1. John Michael Schaefer was born on March 25,1938 and is an American politician and former perennial candidate who served on the San Diego City Council from 1965 to 1971 and then ran for 33 local and state offices in California, Arizona, Maryland, and Nevada for nearly half a century before unexpectedly winning election to the California Board of Equalization in 2018.
Mike Schaefer is the oldest Californian to serve in a state constitutional office.
John Michael Mike Schaefer was born in San Diego, California, on March 25,1938.
Mike Schaefer 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.
Mike Schaefer worked as an analyst for the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
In 1965, Mike Schaefer was elected to the San Diego City Council and served until 1971.
Mike Schaefer 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, Mike Schaefer unexpectedly defeated Anderson by a narrow margin; Anderson had spent over $300,000 to Mike Schaefer's $25,000.
Mike Schaefer was briefly a Democratic candidate for California's 47th congressional district in the 2024 election, but later switched to the race for the US Senate in Nevada.
Mike Schaefer lost the primary election to the incumbent Senator Jacky Rosen.
In 1970, Mike Schaefer was arrested for bribery and conspiracy in the 1970 Yellow Cab bribery scandal, but was later acquitted after an eleven-hour deliberation by a jury on January 21,1971.
Mike Schaefer bought properties in multiple states, including the Mike Schaefer Hotel which he bought for $450,000.
Mike Schaefer was successfully sued by his tenants in Los Angeles for the low quality of his housing and they were awarded $1.83 million.
In 1993, Mike Schaefer was convicted of misdemeanor spousal abuse and was disbarred by the Nevada Supreme Court in 2001.
In 2025, tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey revealed that Mike Schaefer had sent him numerous angry letters and had stated that he would not treat Luckey fairly on tax matters because Luckey had not invited him to a political fundraiser hosted in 2024.
Mike Schaefer said he would exclude himself from participating in any matters related to Luckey or his interests, citing a threat of a lawsuit from Luckey, which Luckey denies making.