Mission Local is publishing a daily campaign dispatch for each of the major contenders in the mayor’s race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: Ahsha Safaí. Read earlier dispatches here.
The battle had already begun before the audience entered the University of California School of Law’s auditorium: Supporters for mayoral candidates occupied all four corners of the intersection at Hyde and McAllister streets around 6 p.m., holding signs and chanting slogans.
There were colors of all sorts — yellow for London Breed, teal for Aaron Peskin, orange for Mark Farrell, and different shades of blue for Daniel Lurie and Ahsha Safaí.
Lurie’s supporters were the loudest, while Peskin’s held a comically giant sign and used an ironing board as a temporary desk for materials. Cars drove by the busy intersection and honked in support, but no one could know for whom.
More than 400 people showed up to the San Francisco Democratic Party’s mayoral debate on Monday evening, and many more watched online. Moderated by Terisa Estacio, a KRON4 reporter, the debate featured the five major candidates who, less than a week ago, had squared off in their first mayoral debate.
This time, however, each candidate could question their opponents, and each had 90 seconds to respond.
Whom they asked the question to mattered. It could indicate whom they saw as a stronger opponent, or it could be a sign of friendliness and reveal possible alliances in ranked-choice voting. It appeared that Farrell might be courting Safaí’s second-choice votes.
Lurie, the nonprofit founder and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, was questioned twice by Safaí and Peskin. Farrell, an investment banker who is listed as a small business owner on the ballot; Safaí, a supervisor; and Breed, the incumbent, were each questioned once. No one questioned Peskin.
Safaí’s question to Lurie seemed more like a statement: He called out, again, Lurie’s mother’s $1 million donation to support her son’s candidacy, and added that his own mother only gave him $150.
“That is the single largest contribution in the city’s history,” Safaí said. “A lot of people criticize that, and believe that you’re attempting to buy the mayor’s office. What’s your response?”
Lurie, anticipating the dig, asked voters to take into consideration how he was raised, but also the choices he made with his life — that is, starting his homelessness nonprofit Tipping Point, and working to bring the Super Bowl to the Bay Area in 2016. He also highlighted his family’s investment in different nonprofits: $12 million just in 2024 focusing on early childhood, arts and parks.
Peskin’s question to Lurie, on the other hand, focused on two specific past ballot measures: Prop. C in 2018, the measure that imposed a tax on businesses making more than $50 million to fund homelessness services and housing, and Prop. I in 2020, the measure to increase the transfer-tax rate on sellers of properties valued at $10 million or more.
He asked if Lurie supported these measures and, specifically on Prop. I, whether he would commit to spending the funding on affordable housing, which Breed has not. Peskin also asked if Lurie would work to reverse them as mayor.
Lurie ran out of time before elaborating on Prop. I, but said he remains neutral on Prop. C as CEO of a nonprofit. He also took the opportunity to emphasize that, after Prop. C passed, his organization helped to “get it up and running,” while reiterating his history of building permanent housing “on time, under budget and with good-paying union labor.”
Lurie, in his turn, asked Breed to name three nonprofits that she had cut because they weren’t performing well. Breed insisted that she didn’t want to “throw these organizations under the bus,” but alluded to a few, including the United Council of Human Services in Bayview, accused of mismanaging funds.
When organizations “make tremendous mistakes,” Breed added, it’s not easy to “walk away” when they have staff members responsible for services.
Breed’s question, while more lighted-hearted in nature, was no less feisty. During the inaugural mayoral debate last week, Farrell couldn’t name his favorite drag queen in the city — and Breed said her question was to give Farrell a chance to redeem himself.
“Name three LGBTQ advisors to your campaign, and three drag queens,” Breed asked.
Farrell deflected and used the question instead to highlight his 2012 legislation as a supervisor to reimburse same-sex couples on the tax deducted for their health benefits. This, he said, was legislation that was introduced before same-sex marriage was legalized.
Farrell’s question to Safaí, in contrast, felt like an olive branch. He asked Safaí to share more about his loan-forgiveness-fund plan for first responders, such as registered nurses, firefighters and 911 dispatchers. The initiative, which will be introduced at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, will pay outstanding student loans and job-related educational expenses up to $25,000, as long as individuals work for the city for at least three years.
“This will not only improve, but it will retain our first responders,” Safaí said.
This is Safaí’s second ballot measure introduced for the November election. A previous one, introduced last month, aims to allow permanent, full-time nurses to buy back time they’ve worked as per-diem nurses, for pension credits.
Safaí has trailed in recent polls conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle, the moderate political organization GrowSF, and Mark Farrell’s campaign. At one point in last week’s mayoral debate, he had to remind the moderator he hadn’t answered the question. But he believes he has benefitted from the debates, and increased his stature among his fellow contenders. Last night, he behaved as if he had nothing to lose.
“Our hurdle is getting my name recognition up,” he said. “After the debate, it has raised my profile.”
It was also a pleasant surprise for him to hear that both Farrell and Peskin, two candidates “pretty far apart on a lot of issues,” say they’d potentially choose him when they were asked in the first debate who they’d vote for among the five candidates.
“These are people who know Ahsha very well,” said Derek Jansen, a consultant for Safaí’s campaign. “It speaks volumes … that they would say such positive things about him.”
The notion that Farrell needs to be able to name three drag queens is as absurd as it would be for him to demand she name three priests in the SF Archdiocese
As a queer person, I agree. It is insulting to the intelligence of queer voters that Mayor Breed and her allies think that pandering to cheap identity politics is more important to us than the issues at hand.
For the record, the best drag queen was Heklina. May she RIP.
Mayor Breed had the opportunity to grill her opponents on anything and she chose that? No wonder her approval ratings are in the sewer.
This may come as a shock to some people, but queer voters don’t care about your knowledge of drag queens. We care about being able to safely walk down the streets. We care about housing affordability. We want to see our City and leaders rise above this “Doom Loop” BS and get SF back on track.
Does naming drag queens make you a better mayor? Will it help crime, homelessness, the state of the local economy, the high-priced housing crises and too many other problems San Francisco is experiencing now? These are the real problems effecting the citizens of the city to include the Gay community. I’m scratching my head till it bleeds on that one!!!
What’s with the heteros competing with each other to proxy fealty to LGBT through name dropping drag queens?
My vote is for Aaron Peskin. He is the only candidate that won’t sell out the city.
Right on, Maria. You nailed it.
Your city is in turmoil and not considered safe to visit….your current mayor asks a candidate to name drag queens as a position that would qualify someone to be mayor? Ludicrous!!!
Discrimination against Republican mayoral candidate Ellen Lee Zhou. YOU, DID NOT report the truth! Total 13 mayoral candidates! We were there talking to you Mission Local! http://www.MayorEllen.com The only New San Francisco Mayor will end all criminal activities inside the government and outside the streets of San Francisco!