SAN DIEGO -- Outgoing City Attorney Michael Aguirre Wednesday blamed the local Republican Party, The San Diego Union-Tribune and the San Diego Chargers for his loss to Superior Court Judge Jan Goldsmith.

Aguirre, who served one term, won 40.5 of the vote Tuesday. Goldsmith got 59.5 percent.

Known for his combative style, he said he was driven from office, because entrenched municipal interests didn't like his "substance" of serving the entire community.

The municipal employee unions and Republicans had an alliance that enabled them to "take turns taking benefits for themselves," he said.

Aguirre said Councilwoman Donna Frye was his only ally when he was elected four years ago "and she was somewhat isolated herself."

Of some 200 columns and editorials about him in the Union-Tribune, about 95 percent were negative and based on "misinformation and distortions," he said.

Executives with the San Diego Chargers, angered by his opposition to a new football stadium, sent a "constant drumbeat" of negativity toward him, he said.

At an election party at the Westgate Hotel Tuesday night, Goldsmith said he ran "an honest campaign" and asserted that voters recognized there was "no blurring" of his views versus Aguirre's.

The race is officially nonpartisan. Goldsmith, however, is a Republican, and Aguirre is a Democrat.

Goldsmith said he believed many Democrats voted for him.

"The office is based upon the law, not politics or partisanship," he said.

Goldsmith said he would meet with the staffers and attorneys in the office two weeks before being sworn in.

"This is a rebuilding process," he said.

The race pitted an incumbent with a populist reputation against a judge who pledged to be less of an activist and to focus on the office's core functions of advising and representing city officials.

Since taking office in 2004, Aguirre has launched numerous investigations and lawsuits, in the process alienating many city officials, including City Council members, the mayor, the police chief and union leaders.

Goldsmith, on leave as a San Diego Superior Court judge, made returning the focus of the City Attorney's Office to legal matters, not politics, a central theme of his campaign. He accused of Aguirre of pandering for headlines instead of following the letter of the law.

Goldsmith said some of Aguirre's lawsuits were frivolous and charged that the city attorney spent tens of millions of dollars to hire outside attorneys.

Aguirre finished second in June's primary election, with 29 percent of the vote to Goldsmith's 32 percent. There were three other candidates vying for the office in the primary, and since no one won a majority, a runoff election was held.

Aguirre battled over the past four years to reverse pension deals he maintains were granted illegally and contributed to San Diego's more than $1 billion retirement fund shortfall. Last year, a judge threw out Aguirre's lawsuit. An appeal is pending.

Aguirre's investigation into the construction of the Sunroad office tower adjacent to Montgomery Field deemed too tall by the Federal Aviation Administration led to the building's height being reduced.

The contentious debate over the building prompted Aguirre to label some city officials, including Mayor Jerry Sanders, corrupt.

The city attorney sued major home lender like Countrywide and Washington Mutual in an attempt to halt the spread of foreclosures stemming from predatory lending practices in San Diego.

His office recovered more than $20 million in fees charged by consultants hired to help San Diego out of its fiscal problems. He also got a $150 million verdict against the city overturned in a lawsuit by South Bay developer Roque De La Fuente.

However, Mayor Sanders and police Chief William Lansdowne recently said Aguirre was "reckless" for suggesting that the entire city be evacuated during last year's wildfires.

Sanders also said Aguirre exposed the city to lawsuits when he suggested municipal water lines were to blame for a landslide that damaged or destroyed nine homes and left a gapping hole on Mount Soledad.