SAN DIEGO -- A special election is being held in San Diego's 4th District today to fill the seat left vacant with the death of Councilman Charles Lewis in August.

Eight candidates are running to fill Lewis' seat on the council. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a Jan. 4 runoff election will be held between the two candidates with the most votes.

The 4th District's 66 polling sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The candidates are:

Anthony Young, 38, Lewis' chief of staff
George Stevens, 72, a Baptist minister who previously held the 4th District City Council seat
Marissa Acierto, 42, an entrepreneur in a family telecommunications business
Dwayne Crenshaw, 34, a community development director who lost to Lewis in the 2002 election
Patrick DeShields, 41, a community newspaper publisher
James Galley, 49, a water treatment plant operator
Gloria Tyler-Mallery, 56, a real estate broker who lost a bid for the 8th District seat in 2002
Bruce Williams, 41, director of community affairs for Mayor Dick Murphy

Lewis died Aug. 8 from internal bleeding brought on by cirrhosis of the liver. He also suffered from hypertension, pancreatitis and gastritis.

Since Lewis' death, Young has been in charge of the 4th District office.

Lewis was chief of staff to Stevens before being elected to the City Council in 2002.