Out SF Supervisor Candidates Fall Short

The two out San Francisco supervisor candidates on Tuesday's ballot appear to have both fallen short.

After landing in second place during the first round of voting, they both remained behind the first-place finishers in their respective races under the city's instant runoff voting system.

It marks the first time since Harvey Milk's historic election in 1977 that the city's Board of Supervisors will not have an out elected member on it come January when the winners of Tuesday's odd-numbered supervisor districts are sworn into office.

At the end of the year gay District 9 Supervisor David Campos will depart due to term limits and no LGBT person ran to succeed him. And gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener appears headed to the state Legislature, having pulled off a victory over his opponent, straight District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, after placing second in the June primary.

In the race to succeed District 11 Supervisor John Avalos, who is termed out of office, lesbian union leader Kimberly Alvarenga lost to fellow union leader Ahsha Safai, who is straight and a moderate, in their bid to represent the city's southeastern neighborhoods at City Hall.

In the first round Alvarenga had 32.17 percent of the vote, while Safai was in first place with 38.81 percent. Since neither captured the 50 percent plus one vote threshold needed to win the seat outright, the ranked choices of the voters for the other three candidates in the race were added to Alvarenga and Safai's totals.

After five rounds, Safai emerged the winner with 53 percent or 7,663 votes, with Alvarenga in second with 46.95 percent or 6,782 votes based on the unofficial returns Wednesday morning.

A similar situation played out in the race for the District 7 supervisor seat west of Twin Peaks, where Joel Engardio, a gay journalist who ran for the seat four years ago, was in second against incumbent progressive Supervisor Norman Yee.
District 7 supervisor candidate Joel Engardio came in second in his second bid for the seat. Photo: Khaled Sayed

In the first round of voting, Engardio garnered 21.5 percent of the vote and Yee was leading with 39.38 percent. In third place in the five-person race was Ben Matranga, who led the city's Vision Zero project to end pedestrian deaths, with 18.86 percent of the vote.

When his supporters' second and third votes were redistributed, along with those of the other challengers, real estate agents John Farrell and Mike Young, Yee emerged the winner after five rounds with 57.40 percent or 11,816 votes. Engardio was in second with 42.60 percent or 8,771 votes.

Engardio conceded Wednesday morning, telling his supporters in an emailed message that, "While we came in second place, there's much to be grateful for."

On election night Engardio told the Bay Area Reporter that "it is good to be in second," as it meant his message had resonated with residents of the district. He was noncommittal on if he would seek the seat a third time when Yee is termed out in 2020.

"You will have to ask my husband Lionel (Hsu) if this is it for me," said Engardio. "He has been so gracious in supporting this run. If you look at history, luminaries like Harvey Milk, Jackie Speier, and Abraham Lincoln all had to run at least twice before they won an election."

Alvarenga said on Tuesday night that she had been "inspired by the grassroots campaign we have run." She too did not rule out another run for elected office.

"We will wait to see what happens," she told the B.A.R. "I have been working to advocate for underrepresented communities my entire life and will continue to do so."

Faced with the prospect of having no LGBT representation on the Board of Supervisors, Mayor Ed Lee is already facing pressure to name an LGBT person to Wiener's District 8 seat.

With the apparent defeat of the local ballot measure Proposition D, which would have restricted the mayor's power to fill board vacancies, whomever Lee appoints to succeed Wiener will serve out the remainder of his term through the end of 2018.

Queer activist Tommi Avicolla Mecca released an open letter to the mayor late Tuesday night requesting that a progressive LGBT leader be appointed. Meanwhile, college board member Alex Randolph, a gay moderate who won re-election Tuesday night, told the B.A.R. he is interested in speaking with the mayor about serving in the District 8 seat.

Wiener, part of the board's current moderate minority, demurred when asked by the B.A.R. Tuesday night if he had a successor in mind. But he did predict whomever the mayor picks will be from the LGBT community.

"I have no doubt an LGBT person will be succeeding me," he said.

Other Supervisor Races

In the other odd-numbered supervisor races this year, progressive school board member Sandra Lee Fewer pulled off a win in the District 1 contest to succeed progressive Supervisor Eric Mar, who is termed out this year, with 51.93 percent or 9,869 votes after 10 IRV rounds. Her opponent Marjan Philhour came in second with 48.07 percent of the vote for a count of 9,135 votes.

In District 3, incumbent progressive Supervisor Aaron Peskin easily claimed re-election with 73 percent of the vote.

Board President London Breed, a moderate, won her District 5 seat outright with 53.42 percent of the vote. Her opponent, tenants rights activist Dean Preston, trailed with 46.58 percent of the vote.

And in the District 9 race to succeed Campos, his aide Hillary Ronen also won in the first round with 57.14 percent of the vote. In second place was civil rights attorney and labor representative Joshua Arce with 30.65 percent of the vote.

"No matter what happens at the federal level, San Francisco will continue to be a beacon of hope and progress for the LGBT community, for immigrants, for women, for people of color and for equality," Ronen told the B.A.R.

A delighted Campos said, "I'm very happy that Hillary Ronen is winning and will be the next D9 supervisor."

David-Elijah Nahmod contributed to this report.