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: Mark Farrell. Read earlier dispatches here.
Over the weekend, mayoral hopeful Mark Farrell celebrated the grand opening of his campaign’s headquarters in West Portal, attended the Union Street Festival and went to not one, but three banquets organized by Chinese associations.
“Oh God, they love Mark,” said Tina Wong, a volunteer on Farrell’s campaign. At lunchtime on Sunday at Imperial Palace, a restaurant on Washington Street in Chinatown, residents swarmed the candidate to get a photo with him at the meal hosted by the American Chinese International Cultural Exchange Council.
“People who go to banquets in Chinatown are generally influencers,” political consultant Eric Jaye said, and Farrell needs them.
“White Democratic homeowners, older white renters, Republicans and Chinese voters” — that’s Farrell’s base, added political consultant Jim Ross.
According to Jaye, the Asian vote will represent approximately 25 percent of the electorate, and the Chinese vote about 15 percent.
It’s a vote that appears to be up for grabs, according to a San Francisco Chronicle poll from earlier this year that showed 49 percent of the city’s Asian voters had not yet decided on a candidate. That poll was taken before Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, the progressive candidate, joined the race, but it showed Farrell and Lurie with the same 17 percent of the Asian vote.
Farrell is dead set on growing that. His platform on law and order and public safety, appeals to Asian voters. For more than an hour, the candidate obliged voters looking for photos, circling around tables in the room, going from one end to another, barely taking the time to speak to anyone, but occasionally stopping for a toast. “It’s not exactly a shot, but, you know,” Farrell said, as he knocked back a small cup of tea before moving onto the next table.
Jade Tu, Farrell’s campaign manager, and Sherman King, his director of Asian American outreach, and two photographers followed closely, handing out Chinese-language flyers.
Meanwhile, diners spun lazy Susans and clinked plates as various performances went on in the background, including traditional Mongolian dance and a fashion show during which women ambled down a polished wooden floor to EDM music.
“Welcome to a Chinese banquet during the day,” said Tu. “If you get pushed and shoved, don’t take it personally. That’s just kind of the vibe.”
At around 45 minutes into the banquet, Farrell briefly sat down for a pork bun and a helping of stir-fried noodles. Even then, he did not catch a break from smiling: A reporter from Sing Tao Daily sat opposite him, taking more photos.
“Was it like this when you ran for supervisor?” I asked. Not really, Farrell responded. “Things were a little less hectic.”
Farrell ran for (and became) the representative for District 2 in 2011. Back then, his campaign was confined to his home turf: The Marina, the Presidio and Pacific Heights. Now he is running a citywide campaign, and he’s not the only center-right candidate running on a campaign of law and order — so he is not the only one attending consecutive Chinese banquets.
Right now, all three of the center-right campaigns — that’s Mayor London Breed, Daniel Lurie and Farrell — are focused on the Chinese community, Ross said. Why? “Because it will be very challenging for any candidate to win without getting the most votes from that coalition.”
So, all three mayoral candidates, and many others, made an appearance at another banquet on Saturday night, for the Chinese American Democratic Club’s annual dinner at the Far East Cafe in Chinatown. There, too, the appearance was mostly about photographs; Farrell had no time for even a pork bun, and had to leave early for family obligations, his campaign manager, Tu, said.
Still, those who remained understood the stakes.
“At the end of the day, Mark has to win all of the votes,” said Tu.
