Election Day 2024: Daniel Lurie is up, but half of votes still outstanding

It’s a shame that San Francisco’s fascinating election results can’t be viewed in isolation from the strange and terrible returns that propelled Donald Trump once more to the presidency. But the luxury of ignoring the bigger picture is something San Francisco no longer gets to do. 

With a minuscule final tally, it appears we have all the in-person votes in the can — 37,345 of them. In-person voting is a bit like shaving with a straight-edge razor or knitting your own pot-holders: You could do it if you wanted to, but hardly anybody does. At present, 234,453 votes have been counted; a shade under 45 percent. It’s reasonable to expect 180,000 or more votes to trickle into the Department of Elections. Any ballots received on Monday or Tuesday via mail, drop-box or at a polling station are outstanding. By law, any ballots postmarked by Nov. 5 have seven days to reach City Hall. 

Here’s what we know: 

Daniel Lurie remains the man to beat, dispatching Mayor London Breed in a ranked-choice voting tabulation by 25,000-odd votes. There are many more votes to count, but here are the factors at play: Lurie receives the healthy majority of Mark Farrel’s secondary votes and Aaron Peskin’s No. 2 votes are breaking to Lurie at a percentage approximating the percentage going to Breed. 

Barring unforeseen lunacy, Lurie is going to win this thing. That’s because — of course — he was blessed with all the monetary advantages one could desire. But he also hired the right people and ran a drama-free and disciplined campaign.

But the luxury of viewing San Francisco politics in isolation from the larger world is, like in-person voting, a thing of the past. The notion of having a neophyte mayor taking the reins at the same time an emboldened populist fascist assumes power in Washington, D.C. is concerning to say the least; and you thought the biggest problem for San Francisco in 2025 was its bereft downtown and looming budgetary cliff. Things can always get worse. Tonight, they just did. 

Speaking of worse, it was a uniquely terrible night for free-spending political pressure group TogetherSF and its chosen candidate, Mark Farrell. TogetherSF’s measure to halve the number of San Francisco commissions and empower the mayor is almost 20,000 votes in the hole — and late-breaking voters tend to side with more progressive causes, not less progressive ones. 

Prop. D had nearly $10 million behind it. And that’s just for starters: A Prop. D committee served as a lucrative soft-money vehicle for Farrell. On Nov. 4, news broke that he’d agreed to pay a $108,000 fine for commingling funds from his mayoral committee and Prop. D commitee; he was accused of using the unlimited donations to the ballot measure committee to subsidize his mayoral committe and, in effect, elude the $500 donation cap. 

What a predicament: Farrell and TogetherSF had clearly hoped Prop. D would pull Farrell across the finish line. But that didn’t happen. Did he weigh it down? Did it weigh him down? Was it a mutually-assured destruction? 

On the eve of the election, we compared Farrell to Vinko Bogataj, the hapless Yugoslavian ski-jumper whose epic meltdown for years underpinned “ABC Wide World of Sports” description of “The agony of defeat.” 

This comparison seems apt, and would seem to encompass both Farrell and TogetherSF’s efforts in this election cycle. 

In prior years, when in-person voting was more significant, and voting patterns were more predictable, a late progressive shift was easier to chart. That’s no longer the case. But late-breaking votes would still figure to be more likely to break progressive than not. 

As such, incumbents Connie Chan in District 1 has reason to be optimistic, and Dean Preston in District 5 should be hopeful (if not optimistic). There are many thousands of votes yet to count, but they may yet weather the storm. In District 11, Michael Lai holds a slim lead over Chyanne Chen, but everything will depend on late-breaking votes. Trends will become clearer when those votes are tallied. 

In Districts 3, 7 and 9 Danny Sauter, incumbent Myrna Melgar and Jackie Fielder appear well-positioned. 

The Department of Elections will commence counting votes again Thursday. As ever, we wish San Francisco was the center of the world’s attention, because it is that interesting. But, alas, it can’t be.

— Joe Eskenazi

With another 25,393 day-of votes processed, the overall vote count in San Francisco is now up to just under 233,000, some 44.6 percent. The city has, likely, passed the halfway mark on how many voters can reasonably be expected to cast a ballot. 

Here’s how everything stacks up: 

Daniel Lurie is still in the catbird seat with 62,218 votes, some 8,000 more than Mayor London Breed. Aaron Peskin has 47,854 votes, and Mark Farrell is in a distant fourth at 40,902. The next ranked-choice tabulation will come after all the in-person votes are crunched, at midnight or so. But, so far, Lurie is reaping more than half of Farrell’s No. 2 votes and is getting around the same percentage of Peskin’s No. 2 votes as Breed. That’s a winning formula. 

Glancing through the district races, the most notable change is that Dean Preston now leads Bilal Mahmood in first-pace votes, albeit by only 81 votes (6,793-6,712). While Preston has not been receiving many second- or third-place votes, the hope from his camp is that he sufficiently surprasses Mahmood in No. 1 votes as more liberal voters’ ballots trickle in late. 

Ballot measures remain largely unchanged, though Prop. K, the Great Highway park proposition, is now only 13,000-odd votes up. Prop. D, shockingly, remains nearly 20,000 votes underwater and is failing at a 55-45 clip. More than $9 million was backing Prop. D. Less than $80,000 was backing its competitor Prop. E … which has 51.6 percent of the vote and is up by nearly 7,000 votes. This is a surprise. 

The Department of Elections will, tonight, issue one more update and one more ranked-choice tabulation. It will also, likely, give a prediction on how many outstanding ballots remain to be counted. Mail ballots returned through the weekend have been counted, meaning ballots received on Monday or returned today via dropbox, mail or at a polling place are outstanding. 

Once more unto the breach once more. 

— Joe Eskenazi

The Department of Elections has crunched an additional 10,484 ballots, bringing the grand total to just under 208,000 (39.8 percent). This is perhaps a bit less than half of where things will end up. 

Here’s how it all looks now: 

Daniel Lurie lost decimal points off his lead; he is now at 28.7 percent, and not 28.8. Mayor Breed is second with 24.7 percent, and Aaron Peskin third with 21.1 percent. The next ranked-choice voting tabulation is coming at close to midnight, so we’ll have to see how transfers break down. These are still very good results for Lurie — and very poor for Mark Farrell, who is 20,000 votes off the lead. 

While Lurie is only around 9,000 votes up on Breed, the critical factor is that more than half of Farrell’s No. 2 votes go to Lurie with only around a third that total going to Breed. That, as Robert Frost would put it, has made all the difference. 

There have been minor changes in the supervisors’ races, though not every district is represented in the updates. The next ranked-choice tabulations are coming at the end of the night near midnight. Stay tuned.

For transit advocates, Edward Wright has a commanding lead of more than 16,000 votes in the BART board race and presently has 62 percent of the vote. 

In the school board races, incumbent Matt Alexander gained about 700 votes on No. 4 finisher John Jersin to trail by about 4,300; top-four candidates win.  

In ballot measures, well-funded Prop. D now stands at 54 percent NO! Its competitor Prop. E is at 51.3 percent approval. Whichever garners more votes takes hold. 

Prop. K gained a smidge to stand at 53.3 percent. Prop. L continues to pass with ease, but is far below Prop. M, which has a poison pill to nullify it. 

The next ballot drop is at 10:45 p.m. 

— Joe Eskenazi

The first round of votes in the 2024 general election have dropped. With 197,108 ballots counted (37.7 percent), here’s what San Francisco’s mayoral race looks like right now: 

Daniel Lurie leads all comers with 54,149 votes (28.8 percent). Mayor London Breed is second with 46,764 votes (24.9 percent). Aaron Peskin takes the bronze with 39,585 votes (21 percent) and Mark Farrell lags with 34,004 votes (18 percent). Only 5,000 votes for Ahsha Safai (2.7 percent). 

The initial ranked-choice voting tabulation puts Lurie in a runoff with Breed. After vote transfers, he wins with 56.7 percent of the vote. 

This is obviously a dismal showing for Farrell, especially considering that early voters hail heavily from District 7 and his own District 2. S.F. State professor Jason McDaniel, a national expert on ranked-choice voting, points out that Lurie is far overperforming many of his polling averages, while Peskin and Breed are not. Farrell hardly outperforms his polling averages with this very favorable slice of the electorate, which is a troubling sign for his campaign. 

McDaniel points out that more than half of Farrell’s votes are transferring to Lurie with just 17.5 percent going to Breed. “That’s the key,” the professor says. This is why Lurie’s campaign worked so hard to sink Farrell — this shedding and reaping of votes was predicted; Lurie’s path to victory through No. 2 votes went through Farrell. 

To catch up, Breed or Peskin will need to overperform with late absentee voters and day-of voters. 

A reminder: These totals only account for not quite 200,000 votes, and less than 40 percent of the electorate. There are many, many votes left to count

There are three more updates today alone. If 80 percent of San Francisco voters turned out in this election — and we may see that, or better — that would translate into just over 412,000 votes. That means there are more than 200,000 votes left to count in the coming hours and days; results are liable to shift and ranked-choice tabulations in candidate races only reflect a small portion of the eventual votes. 

Here are the rest of the early results for candidate races: 

In Assembly District 19, Supervisor Catherine Stefani leads David Lee by nearly 21,000 votes and a 64-36 tilt. 

Incumbent District Attorney Brooke Jenkins leads challenger Ryan Khojasteh by a gaudy 69 to 31 ratio. 

The top four finishers, thus far, in the Board of Education race are Jaime Huling, Parag Gupta, Supriya Ray and John Jersin. Incumbent president Matt Alexander is presently out of the money, 5,000 votes behind Jersin. In 2022, late voters propelled Alida Fisher to victory over incumbent Ann Hsu. It will be interesting to note if this pattern holds in 2024. 

Here are the preliminary results for the Board of Supervisors races: 

In District 1, incumbent Connie Chan has 7,753 votes to Marjan Philhour’s 7,431 (45.4 percent to 43.5 percent). With RCV, Philhour comes out on top by 46 votes. Clearly this one is too close to call (and, four years ago, fewer than 150 votes decided this race). 

In District 3, Danny Sauter is in pole position with 41 percent of the vote, far ahead of Sharon Lai (28.5 percent ) and Moe Jamil (13 percent). Few votes, have been counted, however; Sauter has only 5,811. His allies have tag-teamed to create a ranked-choice strategy but, thus far it’s not holding: Sauter wins RCV with 57 percent of the vote, beating out Lai. 

In District 5, challenger Bilal Mahmood is outpolling Dean Preston by about 200 votes. With RCV, he wins by around 1,000 votes. Preston is receiving few No. 2 votes, but figures to garner his fair share of No. 1 votes with later voters.

In District 7, incumbent Myrna Melgar has nearly 50 percent of the vote, nearly 1,700 votes up on Matt Boschetto, who was a popular upset pick. She also triumphs in ranked-choice, but only by around 800 votes. 

In District 9, Jackie Fielder is up by nearly 1,400 votes over Trevor Chandler with Roberto Hernandez in a distant third. Following RCV, it’s still a lopsided win for Fielder. 

And in District 11, Michael Lai leads a crowded field. His 4,315 votes are a shade ahead of Chyanne Chen’s 4,045. Ernest “EJ” Jones is third with 2,497. Jones and Chen’s ranked-choice strategy is not yet staving off Lai, who leads RCV by fewer than 200 votes.  

As more votes come in, these results are subject to change. While less dramatically and less methodically than in the past, early conservative-to-moderate results have tended to shift gradually to moderate-to-progressive in recent elections. 

These results have to be seen as hopeful if not optimistic for embattled incumbents Chan and Preston. Chen in District 11 also has reason for optimism as more votes come in. Sauter, Melgar and Fielder seem to be in strong positions. 

Here are the preliminary results for San Francisco’s 15 ballot propositions: 

Prop. A, a school bond, requires 55 percent of the vote to pass. It’s at 73 percent. So much for griping about our mismanaged schools being cut off. 

Prop. B, a bond to acquire land for, among other services, homeless shelters and healthcare services, requires two-thirds of the vote (though will pass with 55 percent if state Prop. 5 passes). It currently sits at 71 percent — solid. 

Prop. C, a measure by Board President and mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin to establish an office of the inspector general, is at 59 percent.  

Prop. D, the TogetherSF-crafted measure to halve the number of city commissions and increase the power of the mayor — which was lavishly funded with more than $9 million and also served as a soft-money vehicle for mayoral candidate Mark Farrell — stands at 52 percent voting NO. This is a shockingly poor showing and, depending on how late votes break, this measure is in real trouble. It remains to be seen how this measure being tethered so tightly to Farrell affects later voters; Farrell stumbled through one ethics scandal after another culminating in the Nov. 4 announcement that he has agreed to pay a $108,000 ethics fine for commingling funds in his mayoral and Prop. D commitees. Rather than Prop. D pulling him across the finish line, it is conceivable that he may tank Prop. D.

Prop. E, a counter to Prop. D funded to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars has 51.3 percent — and, critically, is around 5,500 votes behind Prop. D. Should both pass, the one with more votes wins. 

Prop. F, which would offer some veteran cops the opportunity to simultaneously earn pensions and salaries, is at underwater at 48 percent.

Prop. G, which would set aside millions for rental subsidies for the very poor stands at 56 percent.

Prop. H, which would lower the age of fully vested retirement for firefighters is chugging along at 52 percent. 

Prop. I, which would improve retirement benefits for nurses and 911 operators, has 70 percent of the vote. 

Prop. J, which would fund youth and family programs, is at 81 percent

Prop. K, one of the most divisive measures on the ballot, would close a portion of the Great Highway with the goal of it becoming a future park. It has 53 percent of the vote. It would be counter-intuitive for this vote to fade as more ballots come in. 

Prop. L, which would fund Muni by taxing autonomous vehicles and ride-hail services, has 56.3 percent of the vote. It must outpoll Prop. M, or it will be nullified. 

Prop. M, an overhaul of the city’s business tax structure, is at 70.2 percent. If these results hold up, Prop. L will be nullified — handily. 

Prop. N would create a fund that would be used to reimburse student and training loans for first-responders. It stands at 52 percent. 

And, finally, Prop. O would render it city policy to “to support, protect, and expand reproductive rights and services.” It is passing easily with 82 percent of the vote. 

Any “progressive” measure ahead at this early juncture is in a strong position to pass. Such measures include Props. A, B, C, E, G, J, K, L and O. 

The next ballot drop is slated for 9:45 p.m. Onward. 

— Joe Eskenazi

Imagine a political campaign is like a ski ramp, with candidates gaining momentum before soaring off into the unknown. 

If so, that would render Mark Farrell the Vinko Bogataj of the 2024 San Francisco mayoral campaign. You probably don’t know this name, but you probably do know who this is: He’s the Yugoslavian skier whose horrifying ski-jump-gone-wrong for many years defined “the agony of defeat” in the intro for “ABC Wide World of Sports.”

News broke yesterday — yes, the day before Election Day — that Farrell had agreed to pay the largest campaign finance-related fine in city history — some $108,000. At issue was his commingling of funds between a ballot measure committee and his mayoral committee so as to elude the $500 donation limit to the latter. 

This is less-than-ideal timing for Farrell — but also less-than-coincidental: “The Enforcement Division did everything in its power to publicly resolve this case prior to Election Day so the public would have information about these violations when it matters most,” said Ethics Commission enforcement director Olabisi Matthews. 

Ethics enforcement actions often take place years after the fact. This one was hustled into fruition with remarkable expediency. 

But, for Farrell, it could’ve definitely been worse. He reached his settlement with Ethics on Oct. 25. But it wasn’t until Nov. 4 that the news went (very) public. By that time, more than half of San Francisco’s electorate may have already voted. And, importantly, some of the neighborhoods most likely to go for Farrell — among them District 7 and Farrell’s own District 2 — are overrepresented in early returns.

San Francisco elections are nerve-wracking, and today’s is more so than most — yes, there’s a concurrent federal election of some import. But when the initial round of votes drops tonight on or around 8:45 p.m., it’s important for emotionally frazzled denizens to keep in mind what we know and what we don’t know. 

Department of Elections head John Arntz tells me that ballots received up until Sunday will be tabulated in the first drop. That’s just shy of 190,000 ballots — which is about 36 percent of registered city voters. There are probably as many or more votes to be counted starting later this week as all the votes to be tabulated on Tuesday. 

The votes already in the can for tonight’s 8:45 p.m. reveal make up a mere down-payment of what’s to come and will not be representative of the total electorate. We’re telling you this now. 

Regardless, the results of the early vote drops often befuddle voters. They are likely to be even more befuddled when the Department of Elections runs ranked-choice voting (RCV) tabulations on 36-odd percent of the ballots, which it will do at 8:45ish tonight. 

When asked what the utility is of running ranked-choice voting with some two-thirds of the ballots outstanding, Arntz replied that this “was much requested by RCV advocates.” This is not surprising: RCV advocates love RCV with a monomaniacal zeal; if they were drowning on a sinking raft and a rescue ship approached, the RCV advocates would hold out that, what they really need in this situation, is ranked-choice voting. 

As for the rest of us, it’s not clear what benefit there is to crunching the numbers and running ranked-choice voting tabulations at a highly preliminary point in voting returns. It adds a sense of finality to vote totals that are markedly incomplete; in the 2019 district attorney election, for example, the early RCV resulted in a runoff between Suzy Loftus and Nancy Tung, with Loftus being the winner.

This is a long, long way from how things turned out; Tung finished far out of the running and Chesa Boudin pipped Loftus at the RCV post. 

Running RCV with many or even most of the votes unaccounted for results in unfounded elation or dejection — the misplaced thrill of victory or the unwarranted agony of defeat, you could say. But here’s the thing: Voters can cheer or boo at the changing results, but the outcome is already sealed. The votes are in, and all that remains is the counting. We can root for Vinko Bogataj to stick a perfect jump every time we see the old tape, but the outcome has already occurred — and is immutable.  

There will be four updates today from the Department of Elections. The final update, which will come at perhaps around midnight, will include results from in-person voters at polling places. 

The Department of Elections will run two RCV tabulations today: First on the initial tranche at 8:45 p.m. and then on the fourth batch — which includes all Election Day voters. Further updates will come every day at 4 p.m. starting Thursday.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Polls can give us some idea of what may unfold tonight. But there has never been an electorate this large in a San Francisco mayoral race, so it remains to be seen how closely real behavior tracks with predicted behavior. 

And we’re going to have to wait to see this: With the ascent of universal voting by mail, predicting the flow of San Francisco elections has become much more erratic and difficult. It is, however, generally accepted that very early voters skew more conservative — which means a good early showing by Farrell is all the more critical for him. Being hit with a record ethics fine is a bad valediction for any campaign, so it’s all the more vital for Farrell to have done well with early voters who didn’t know about this before casting their ballots — especially when they figure to be his core voters. 

After tonight’s first drop, things become more complicated. In the olden days, you’d have early absentee voters, who skewed more conservative, day-of-election voters, who skewed more liberal, and late absentee voters who were somewhere in-between. Predicting how votes would shift through the hours and days was, if not a science, something of an alchemy.

This is no longer the case. Voting patterns are just not nearly as easy to track — and even if later voters figure to be less conservative than the very earliest voters, it’s difficult to gauge by how much. As the vote comes in, we can track where in the city these ballots hailed from. But with fewer and fewer San Franciscans voting on Election Day on a machine, it’s much harder to know what parts of the city have yet to have their votes tabulated. 

The Department of Elections will, slowly but surely, count all the votes. The only way out is through. 

— Joe Eskenazi 

As E.J. Jones watched the results come in for District 11, it was clear he was not going to make it. Michael Lai led with 4,949 votes, followed by Chyanne Chen with 4,604 votes. Jones remained behind with 2,986 votes.

Gathered at Bottoms Up on Mission Street, Jones’ supporters celebrated his campaign’s accomplishments. “I’m incredibly proud of the work Ernest did here,” Clara, a District 11 resident said. “I am quite disappointed. I really hoped he would win this election.”

— Neenmachukwu Kaigolie Ebeledike

Ahsha Safaí greeted fans and passersby who congratulated him on a valiant campaign that emphasized labor. 

Safaí stood by partnering with Farrell, and said the only way he could have won was with personal capital. 

“It’s really hard to go against $15 million,” Safaí said, adding that Lurie’s campaign eventually began to emphasize the change San Francisco needs. “I’m willing to work with whoever is in Room 200.” 

— Danica Simonet

At 10:30 p.m., Danny Sauter’s North Beach watch party at Lillie Coit’s welcomed a special guest: State Sen. Scott Wiener, Sauter’s major endorser who has supported his campaign over the past year. After the last drop of results, he is leading with 41 percent of the vote, followed by Sharon Lai with 28  percent of the vote.  

“If I could get on the board, I wanna work closely with him,” said Sauter.

“I’m so proud of Danny,” Wiener responded. After years of seeing Sauter in the community, “it’s so obvious [to me] Danny is the supervisor District 3 needs in City Hall.”

— Yujie Zhou

Meanwhile, while Sharon Lai was satisfied with her first-round votes in District 3, by 10 p.m. her party was over. Lai with 28 percent of the vote was far behind Danny Sauter, who had 39 percent of the vote. 

— Ekonde Daniel

At 11:30 p.m., everyone at Manny’s is watching Trump on TV. Most, however, are actually half-listening because they are looking down at their phones, texting.

The owner, Manny Yekutiel, thought tonight would be a celebration. “I hired manicurists to paint everyone’s nails blue … it was beautiful,” said Yekutiel, who was dressed for a party in shiny blue leggings.

Now, Yekutiel is teary-eyed while watching the screen.

District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman is sorry Mayor London Breed appears to have lost to Daniel Lurie. “She came into office at a tough time and it’s sad she won’t be around to see the benefits of the work she’s done,” Mandelman said. 

Younger patrons are huddled in circles, staring somberly at the television or talking to each other. “I’m just so happy Manny hosted this viewing party tonight, otherwise I would’ve been alone on my couch depressed,” one said.

— Lacy Coralline Green 

At 11:30 p.m., the party’s winding down at Hi Tops. School board candidates Huling, Gupta and Jersin remain in the top four following the latest vote drop. Fifth-place Matt Alexander trailed Jersin by a mere 3,000 out of around 70,000 votes.

Jersin, in a speech to a much-thinned crowd, said good leadership in SFUSD is even more important now given Trump’s pledges to abolish the Department of Education and defund public schools that teach subjects considered progressive.

Gupta agreed, adding that he’s excited to work with Huling and Jersin.

Harris and Trump’s electoral vote tallies — 188 to 266 — are plastered across every TV screen. But the TVs have been silenced, with pop music blaring instead. As Huling begins to take the campaign posters down from the walls, Rina Sawayama belts in the background: “This hell is better with you.”

— Anne Li

It was almost 11 p.m. at Shotwell’s Saloon and Trevor Chandler was nowhere in sight, nor any of his campaign signs reading “Team Reasonable” — only a few empty boxes of pizza on a table and a couple of supporters discussing the results.

Chandler, who announced earlier that his party would go until 11, allegedly left the bar half an hour early .

“I feel confident that he will win,” said supporter Lyn Werbach.

Werbach said Jackie Fielder will not have a positive effect on the Mission District because she isn’t focused on what’s important to the neighborhood.

Despite the earlier confidence, Werbach, along with Kerry Hopkins — another Chandler supporter — said Roberto Hernandez is to blame if Chandler does not win the seat.

“You better blame Hernandez because he didn’t endorse Trevor as number two,” said Werbach, adding that Hernandez and Chandler’s policies are more aligned with each other.

— Oscar Palma   

London Breed spoke before supporters — a boisterous, but somewhat thinned crowd — for a second time at around 10:15 p.m., saying she was still optimistic of victory despite Lurie’s lead in ranked-choice results.

“I want to be very clear: This is not over until the last vote is counted,” Breed said, as she currently trails Lurie 28-24. There are still many tens of thousands of votes outstanding.

When asked about her opponents, Breed was terse and defiant.

Did she have a comment on Mark Farrell? “No,” she said — next question. How much did the San Francisco Chronicle’s endorsement of Daniel Lurie help him? “I’m not sure” — next.

Breed said the coming votes could change things wildly — she again repeated that, back in 2018, it took days to get a final result in her race against Mark Leno and Jane Kim, which she eventually won by 2,500 votes. She campaigned all day, she said, and met people turning in votes for her that likely won’t be counted for days.

“I am hopeful about what that means,” she said.

Asked about the money pouring into the race — more than $61 million, from several billionaires and other wealthy interests — Breed said it had a “tremendous” impact.

“It is one of the saddest things I’ve seen in politics in San Francisco, that someone would take their wealth and basically buy this office,” she said, a none-too-subtle allusion at Lurie, who poured more than $8.6 million of his own money into the race. “It’s really unfortunate and pretty disappointing.”

Not that Breed was exactly going hat in hand: A pro-Breed PAC raised more than $3.1 million from the likes of Michael Bloomberg ($1.5 million), Chris Larsen ($850,000), and a slew of tech executives.

Still, she was particularly incensed by Lurie’s candidacy. Asked what she would say to him tonight, she at first said “Nothing,” and then added: “I’ll say San Franciso is not for sale.”

— Joe Rivano Barros

“Okay,” says Peskin. “Take it slow.” A supporter has approached him, phone out, and they’re looking at the first ballot drop together.

“Okay,” says Peskin. “So first, let’s go to the top and see what got. What happened? How many ballots we have? Okay, 197,000 early absentees representing 37 percent of eligible voters.”

“I hope there’s enough votes in Philadelphia tonight to put Kamala over the top,” says the guy with the phone. Earlier in the evening, while Peskin was being interviewed by KQED, someone across the room pointed at Peskin and said, “We’re about 20 minutes away from Trump’s second term. This guy is going to protect us.”

“Okay, 21 percent,” says Peskin. “Not bad. Where’s Lurie?”

“On top,” says the guy, pointing to Lurie’s name, in green. It does look like a subject heading.

“It is early,” Peskin tells a small crowd of reporters. “Not in the night. It’s early in the week. This is going to go on for a bunch more days, starting out in third is music to my ears. Based on what this campaign has experienced in the streets and the number of uncounted votes I am quite cautiously optimistic.”

— H.R. Smith

Farrell leaves his party by 10 p.m.

At 9 p.m., Farrell supporters have begun to blame ranked-choice voting. A cluster watches a video that explains the voting system with emojis. They say Farrell will do well in first-choice votes but fall behind when second and third-choice votes are counted. When asked how they’re feeling, most shrug. “We’ll see.” 

Fifteen minutes later, most of the room has swapped their beer and wine for cocktails.

“Where’s all the people typing on their computers?” a newcomer asks.

Farrell’s staff walk through the bar to the back patio, where a joint Together SF party is being held. One is crying. 

“The fact that Peskin is ahead of Mark …” one woman trails off, looking at her phone.

An hour and a half after his party started, Mark Farrell arrives in an orange vest, hugging supporters and telling Mission Local he “feels great.”

The crowd begins to chant “Mark.” He takes a mic. Standing next to his wife, he admits that they’re “not where they want to be,” and thanks the crowd for being there. 

“I look forward to having a drink with you all.”

People sit quietly at the edges of the outdoor patio, watching the national election results on TV.

The music has not come back on, but the chatter is loud. 

“I’m so sorry,” a woman says, hugging Farrell. “Don’t worry about it,” he responds.

Farrell leaves at 10 p.m., giving final hugs goodbye outside the bar. A homeless person sleeps in front of him.

— Abigail Vân Neely

Bilal ahead in District 5

With more votes coming in, Bilal Mahmood is still leading Dean Preston with around 200 votes, 5,984 to 5,809.

Asked about how he feels potentially joining the Board of Supervisors under a Trump administration, Mahmood says, “It just increases the importance of San Francisco leading the nation. We can prove to the rest of the nation that progressive values work.”

Honey Mahogany stops by Mahmood’s party. Mahmood’s campaign manager Will Macfie worked on Mahogany’s District 6 campaign and Mahmood credits Mahogany for many best practices his campaign utilized.

“Honey’s results-oriented culture is something I wanted to bring with me. We focused on issues that residents actually care about. For example, Dean Preston never talked about safety, but we know that’s a top issue in the district. That’s why we’re winning.”

— Julia Gitis

Dean is in second place, but smiling

When the initial votes drop right at 8:45 p.m., Bilal Mahmood is at 41 and Dean Preston at 39 percent.

Everyone in the back room of the bar struggles to pull up the elections page with spotty service, and eventually, several people huddle over one phone and decipher the numbers. Preston, glancing at the results, says the “initial drop, that tends to be … least progressive.”

Then, upon a closer look, he realizes that he’s only about 200 votes down and changes his tune.

“That’s a great first drop for us, and very encouraging,” he says, smiling.

His campaign consultant, Jen Snyder, grins and breathes a sigh of relief — she also misread the numbers the first time around.

Scrolling down the page to other races, though, Preston’s core team realizes that Jackie Fielder, who has campaigned alongside Preston, has a hefty lead in District 9.

“Noooo, I wanted this for Dean!” said one of Preston’s legislative aides, comparing to Fielder’s results.

But again, Preston shrugs and accepts that more conservative votes always come in early. If results are this close this early on, it must be a good thing.

— Eleni Balakrishnan

Excitement high at Jackie’s party

Close to a hundred people gathered at Bar Part Time to celebrate Fielder’s campaign and an early lead ahead of Trevor Chandler.

With a total of 15,000 votes counted, Fielder leads the race with 40 percent of the vote, followed by Chandler at 31 percent and Roberto Hernandez at 18 percent.

“I am just so happy and proud of my team,” said an emotional Fielder. “This district deserves someone who is gonna fight for the interest of our community.”

The crowd erupted in screams and cheers as the first announcement was made by Fileder’s campaign manager, Sasha Gaona, who thanked everyone who helped in their campaign.  

“I’m just really proud of my team. We have the best team in the whole city,” said Gaona. “Not only that, but we’re all rockies too. This is truly a grassroots movement.”

The crowd erupted again.

They celebrated, enjoying a large selection of natural wines paired with tacos the campaign bought from taqueria El Faro, which has been broken into three times in the last few weeks.

Starting tomorrow, Fielder will start her vacation in Mexico. She’ll keep celebrating the early results — and her 30th birthday, even if it’s a couple months late.

— Oscar Palma

Michael Lai is jubilant

When the first results come in, people are waving their fists. 

“We won the first stage of marathon,” says Michael Lai. “I am so grateful that all of you have come out tonight and helped on this campaign.” 

His supporters cheer, applauding as Lai thanks Sharon Liu-Bettencourt, his campaign manager. They shout her name with excitement.

“Honestly, politics was not good for my family,” said Lai. “Asian immigrants were running away from politics, but politics was paying attention to them.”

— Tina Chen

At Hi Tops with the SFUSD candidates

At 8:40 p.m., CNN called North Carolina for Trump and the Hi Tops crowd of Harris supporters let out a collective groan. But it was quieter when Iowa was called; there was a sense among some attendees that the race was already lost.

At 8:45, the local candidates — whose vote tallies were just beginning — pulled out their phones to refresh the San Francisco elections site, their faces tense. The rest of the crowd appeared largely oblivious to San Francisco’s first vote drop.

The results: Huling led with nearly 17 percent of the vote, followed by Gupta with 14 percent and Supryia Ray and Jersin with roughly 13 percent each.

“It came in! It came in!” someone shouted. “These are the four we wanted,” someone else said.

“My wife is here,” Jersin joked.

The three candidates acknowledged that there are many votes left to count but nonetheless expressed pride in their slate and teamwork. But Jersin said the backdrop wasn’t quite what they would have hoped for.

“There’s a larger thing that’s happening,” he said, adding that the presidential race “drives home” the idea that “we have to do everything we can to live out our values.”

— Anne Li

Lurie’s Party is packed.

As fresh coffee-rubbed chickens and sliders were served, the second round of results came out as well, showing Lurie with 56.7 percent of the vote.

Supporters and campaign staffers chatted away with drinks in hand to upbeat background music. The national results on the TV disappeared, switched to a Lurie for Mayor screensaver.

On the second floor of the venue, Lurie’s mother took a front-row viewing seat, talking to nearby family and friends. Her son’s going to be mayor!

It’s been over a year since Lurie launched his campaign. And tonight, he is joined by his brother, mom and dad, and other family members — with some coming from Seattle and beyond to witness his (apparent) victory.

As Lurie got off the stage to join the crowd, he was showered with congratulations, fist bumps, handshakes, photos, and hugs — a lot of hugs.

It took him at least 20 minutes to hug his way through the crowd. And once he did, he swiftly climbed up the stairs to join his family — as, most likely, the next mayor of San Francisco.

His children, Sawyer and Taya, were there, waiting for their dad. Lurie greeted them with their secret handshake and forehead kisses.

— Xueer Lu

District 7 

While the votes are not looking so good for Matt Boschetto — Myrna Melgar leads with nearly 50 percent of the vote in District 7 — his party at the United Irish Cultural Center is as lively as ever. 

“I am standing up tonight as a winner regardless of how the votes are looking,” says Boschetto. “We are gonna keep going in the West Side because we will become a force in San Francisco.”

“We will win!” supporters yell back.

As the crowd gets more bubbly, Matt’s Boschetto’s father Mike doesn’t bother looking at the results — he’s not very “tech savvy.”

“We are here enjoying our time together,” said the candidate’s father. “I think Myrna Melgar took this for granted and Matt will win.”

– Denis Akbari Afkhami

The votes look better for Myrna Melgar, who is leading with 52.3 percent of the votes. (Those lucky tennis shoes she wore earlier today worked!)  Friends and supporters trickling into Mucky Duck hug Melgar, who is all smiles.  

“The vibe for Myrna is pretty good… the overall vibe is depressing but this is definitely a bright light” said one of Myrna’s supporters. “Her being in the position that she’s in is very good.”

– Megumi Tanaka

District 9 supervisorial hopeful Roberto Hernandez said he still believes in his changes, despite preliminary results putting him more than 20 points behind Jackie Fielder.

Hernandez said his campaign will remain hopeful until all ballots are counted.

“We anticipated Jackie’s numbers because she already had a base from when she ran for State Senate,” said Hernandez. “I believe many number two votes will be for me, so let’s wait.”

The first numbers released by the city’s Election Department put Fielder at 40 percent, Trevor Chandler at 31 percent and Hernandez at 18 percent, little changed in the second round of results.

About two dozen supporters remained at Hernandez’s campaign headquarters around 10 p.m. watching the live coverage of the local and national elections.

“I’m still hopeful he’s gonna win that seat because he would do so much for us Latinos across City Hall,” said Ana Alfaro, a Hernandez’s supporter. “I will stay hopeful until the very end.”

Despite the final results, Hernandez said he and his community have already won because they have created a movement that gives Latinos a voice.

“I already won,” said Hernandez. “Look at the unity and love we have created here.”

– Oscar Palma

With more results coming in, Preston is now up in first-choice votes, but Mahmood could still win with ranked choice. Bilal looks disappointed and walks outside to get some air. He tells the remaining guests, “The ranked choice is looking strong. We’ll get another update by tomorrow morning.”

Meanwhile Dean Preston was feeling better. At 10:35 p.m. Preston took a slight lead as another round of votes dropped — and cheers and hoots erupted through the crowd.

Preston’s daughter brought him a cupcake, and the family took a photo together before his wife and two children left the party.

“I am optimistic that the more votes … the more we will pick up,” Preston said. “The pattern of every race I’ve run is that the early vote does not tend to favor the more progressive candidate.”

In 2019, Dean Preston saw an initial ballot drop get him only 39 percent of the votes against Vallie Brown, who had more than 48 percent. He ultimately won that election with more than 50 percent of votes.

– Eleni Balakrishnan

At Marjan Philhour’s election night party at her headquarters on Geary Boulevard, the election results page was projected onto a big TV screen in the back of the room.

At 8:45, the page refreshed. The incumbent Connie Chan had 7,753 first-choice votes, while Philhour 7431, some 300 short.

“Oh wow,” the first volunteer who saw the results said. Someone else soon jumped in, trying to comfort Philhour. “It’s okay. This is only 15,000 ballots.”

“Let’s go to RCV,” another volunteer said. There, good news awaited. After the other three candidates were eliminated, Philhour was, in fact, 46 votes ahead.

“Can we see the mayor’s race?” someone requested after staring at the screen for a few minutes.

“We all should congratulate us,” said Andrew Sun, a campaign volunteer. The crowd of some 60 volunteers cheered. “But it will be a very long night.”

“We are doing pretty damn well. It shows at the end of the day — we are in the green, and that’s where we want to be,” he concluded.

By the second drop, Chan led with 8209 votes (45.33%), while Philhour followed with 7859 votes (43.4%) .

“We are feeling really good,” said Chan at her headquarters on Clement Street. “We know no matter what, the progressive movement is alive and well in San Francisco.”

The early votes usually lean conservative. More progressive votes will likely come in later tonight, and it is still too early to tell. In her last race with Philhour, Chan won by only 125 votes. But with redistricting, her District’s population has become a little more moderate to conservative.

— Junyao Yang

The first batch of election results at 8:45 p.m. has drawn an eager, if ambivalent, reaction at Breed’s party.

Daniel Lurie is leading at 29 percent, Breed is at No. 2 with 25 percent, Aaron Peskin has 21 percent, and Ahsha Safaí has 3 percent.

“I don’t think we know anything yet,” said Todd David, the political director of the Abundance Network, which backed the pro-Breed PAC that raised more than $2 million for Breed. The conventional wisdom is that more conservative votes come first, progressive ones later.

The question, David said, is whether there are 200,000 new voters — the ones who are voting for local races in a presidential year, a change from previous mayoral contests — who will go for Breed.

“No poll, no campaign, can tell you how those 200,000 are voting,” David said. So: It’s still too early.

“Daniel is a concern, but we’re just four points behind him, says Joe Arellano, campaign spokesperson. Arellano figured the first batch might have Lurie and Farrell in first and second place, and that Breed would move up as the votes come in.

But Farrell is down in fourth. “This tells me we’re picking up a lot of those Mark voters.”

“This is great for us,” he adds.

At around 9:15 p.m., Breed takes the stage.

“I have been behind before, I have been counted out before, and for whatever reason I ended up winning that race by 2,500 votes.”

Mayor London Breed took the stage at her election party for the first time at around 9:15 p.m., 30 minutes after initial results showed she was four points behind Daniel Lurie in first-place votes — 29 to 25.

Wearing a blue pantsuit with an “I Voted” sticker, she sought to project confidence, thanked her supporters for their work, and nodded to some of the other races doing well — the infrastructure bond Prop. B, and Breed’s reproductive justice measure Prop. O.

Plus: The night is young.

“I think we’re gonna get some new numbers pretty soon, so let’s keep our fingers crossed, and hopefully we’ll get through the night and see something positive,” she said, closing out her brief speech, as the 100-plus assembled inside chanted “Four more years.”

The national election results are a constant, and dour, backdrop inside the room. The TVs are still showing Donald Trump besting Kamala Harris 230 to 182 in electoral votes — and the trajectory looks poor for the Democrats. A Breed supporter, asking about the local and national races, puts her finger in her mouth when informed about Trump’s lead.

Breed, for her part, puts on her trademark smile, shakes hands and poses for photos with those near the stage, and soon adjourns to a back room to rest and await the next drop.

— Joe Rivano Barros

“This is a really good start,” said District 3 candidate Danny Sauter, who’s got 41 percent of the votes in first-round votes. “Very happy with this number.”

— Yujie Zhou

There is hope and blue and yellow balloons in the air at the United Irish Cultural Center, where Matt Boschetto is hosting his election night party.

“We’ve done all we can. I am very positive,” said Boschetto. “Hopefully we can beat the machines. I want to beat the machines.”

— Denis Akbari Afkhami

About 40 people were gathered with Myrna Melgar at the Mucky Duck, a dive bar in the Inner Sunset. After the first round of results dropped, Melgar was leading the District 7 race at 46.1 percent. 

Melgar scrolled through her phone to check her numbers. “You’re doing pretty good,” friends assured her.

— Meg Tanaka

“E.J” Jones is in third place after the first results with 2,497 votes, trailing frontrunner Chyanne Chen, who leads with 4,044.

“I’m hopeful that as more votes come in, we’ll see a surge from our supporters,” Jones said. “This community means everything to me, and I’m here because I believe in a future where we all come together to build a better District 11.”

— Neenmachukwu Kaigolie Ebeledike

Around 8:30 p.m., moments before the first results are called, Ahsha Safaí’s campaign strategist, Derek Jansen, reflected on the campaign.  

He’s proud that Safaí stayed true to himself throughout: “If you watched the debates, you’ll see that he changed the debate to focus on working people and people historically left out of the conversation.” 

Jansen also encouraged San Francisco to take a look at campaign financing. “We need to be asking ourselves whether we’re doing enough to level the playing field.”

— Danica I. Simonet

In the Marina, Moms for Mark Farrell sip wine in the corner of Campus bar, eyes glued to the national election results on TV. Farrell has yet to arrive, but a growing crowd of people in collared shirts fill the space.

One mom, Cheryl Cruver, told Mission Local about her daughter who now lives in Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin Madison student chose to register to vote in San Francisco rather than in the swing state so that she could cast a vote for Mark Farrell, their next-door neighbor.

— Abigail Vân Neely

Campaign volunteers hang up streamers at Pride of the Mediterranean, the restaurant where supporters are gathering for District 5 candidate Bilal Mahmood’s election watch party.

Josie Dominguez-Chand is feeling “excited and ready.” “I’m hoping Bilal will be neck and neck and win.”

The educator lives in the same Tenderloin building as Mahmood, at Jones and Golden Gate. “I met him a year ago at a dinner. As I was walking home, I could feel someone following me. We got off the BART together and I introduced myself as a neighbor.” 

Dominguez-Chand, who had previously volunteered on Jane Kim’s campaign when the Tenderloin was in District 6, said she wanted to continue advocating for youth in the Tenderloin in District 5.

“We share a vision that children in the Tenderloin will be able to play safely outside,” she continued. “If he gets elected I’ll hold him accountable to that.”

More volunteers walk in after the polls close at 8 p.m.  They’re excited to celebrate Mahmood, but anxious as they watch the national election results come in on the restaurant’s TV.

Looking relieved, Mahmood walks around sharing the good news: “We got the most number one votes. It’s still early in the night, but it’s really something to be proud of and a testament to the team.”

“Optimistic!” says campaign manager Will Macfie, as the restaurant cheers. Mahmood is ahead by almost 200 votes, with 5,830 to Dean Preston’s 5,637.

— Julia Gitis

School board candidates come to Hi Tops

At the election party for three down-ballot races, all eyes are on the presidential race.

School board candidates Parag Gupta, Jaime Huling and John Jersin packed into Hi Tops in the Castro at around 8:15 p.m. alongside four other candidates for two other races and a raucous crowd of onlookers.

In spite of the three local races at stake, all eyes were on the showdown between Harris and Trump. Deafening boos filled the bar when CNN, blaring on the TVs, projected a Trump win in Iowa.

Huling said she was feeling better about her race than the presidential race. Gupta echoed Huling.

“It’s hard not to be on edge,” Gupta said. “But this is why we need strong local leadership,” he said, adding that he was drawn to local politics after feeling helpless following the 2016 Trump win.

— Anne Li

The New York Times election needle shows Donald Trump has an 88 percent chance of victory at 8:13 p.m., as the crowd at Mayor London Breed’s election night party grows anxious.

The three wall-mounted TVs are turned to CNN and NBC, and dozens of people are inside ordering fried food and liquor as they await the woman of the hour.

In the meantime: It is all national.

Asked how she feels about Kamala Harris’ chances, Ute Releford pauses, holding her hands close to her chest and crossing her fingers silently.

“I’m feeling okay, but I’m crossing my fingers,” Releford says. When Trump won in 2016, “I was so scared, my son and I cried,” she said. The first batch of local election results is still 30 minutes away, but a Breed win would mean “a big silver lining” for the long-time volunteer.

“My stomach hurts,” says Ayofemi Shannon, sitting with two friends sipping drinks. She’s she’s “bummed out” watching the state-by-state results trickle in on the big screens. How do they cope? I ask.

“Salud,” says her friend Cindy Charan, raising her glass and toasting. “Cheers,” replies Jalik Davis, the third friend. They drink, but “just enough to continue to stay informed” as the vote comes in, says Davis.

Still, “I feel a sense of community in here,” he says, looking around the room.

Joe Arellano, Breed’s campaign spokesperson, is optimistic about the local results. “The energy on the streets was all us today,” he says. All Breed’s campaign staffers are still out, doing last-minute electioneering, he says, looking down at his watch: 8:03 p.m., the polls have just closed, and Breed should be making her way here any minute.

— Joe Rivano Barros

In The Chapel at 777 Valencia St., TV reporters have already set up, waiting for mayoral hopeful Daniel Lurie to arrive.

Nini Wu, who works alongside Lurie’s spokesperson Max Szabo and is based out of Orange County, said it is her second time being in person for the campaign.

“It feels like a sandwich,” Wu said. “I was there in the beginning and now the closing.”

Wu said some 1,000 people have confirmed for the night. (The room capacity is only 500, so it might get pretty crowded.)

Szabo said he felt really optimistic. “I’m not gonna make any predictions,” Szabo said. “It’s difficult to project whether the race will be called tonight.”

In the background, a newscast of the national election played, interrupted by the occasional sigh from someone in the room.

“Twenty minutes to door,” a staffer said to Szabo.

At 8:24 p.m. Lurie had still not shown up.

— Xueer Lu 

If you could harness the energy from the backs being slapped at this year’s John’s Grill Election Day luncheon, the city could be powered for 20 years. 

Depending on the outcome of the federal election, such an enterprise may become a necessity. The stakes, as they say, could not be higher: The winner will either be San Francisco’s hometown girl or the reality TV jester-king who knows that performative cruelty to the real and imagined San Francisco is a virtual applause button for his base. 

There was a vast table full of free drinks to be had at this year’s election luncheon. Not one but two liquor companies had tents and were offering belts of their branded booze. Good: It was necessary. 

But, truth be told, the mood was far from somber. On the inside, everyone may have felt a bit like an overripe peach in a blender. On the outside it was all smiles — exhausted smiles — and the unmistakable wandering eye of the person shaking your hand glancing over your shoulder at the next person to greet. Perhaps somebody knew something. Perhaps somebody had talked to somebody who’s the great pal and former golfing buddy of the King of Pennsylvania Politics — and he said Don’t you worry about a thing. Because every little thing is gonna be alright. 

Everybody, it seemed, was looking for someone who could say that. 

John’s Grill today was a liminal place: Hundreds if not thousands of San Franciscans from all walks of life — elected officials, captains of industry, men in wheelchairs scooting themselves along with their legs — were enjoying a moment divorced from time. In the coming days and weeks there will be great anxiety leading to great relief or great sorrow. But, today, it was time to amp up several megawatts worth of backslaps and dig into vast trays of hearty food of the sort you’d expect at a wake or a wedding. It’s not certain which this will turn out to be. 

For those attempting to discern the national mood via official greeter Willie L. Brown, Jr.’s attire — not unlike papal-watchers eyeing the smoke emanating from the Holy See — it was a perplexing day. Da Mayor’s suit coat and fedora were neither blue nor red. Rather, they were … magenta? Rose? Salmon? When asked, Brown himself said he didn’t know what color his coat and hat were. But he confirmed he had no desire to be red or blue today but pink — like his unambiguously pink suspenders. 

That got a big laugh. Then Da Mayor turned to a former foot soldier in his political army, Zula Jones, who was wearing a scarlet outfit that could be seen from space. Jones in 2019 took a plea deal after allegedly attempting to solicit bribes from an undercover federal agent, purportedly telling the officer that this is San Francisco “and you have to pay to play here.” 

Well, that’s the city for you. You may have to pay to play here but you didn’t have to pay to eat. Or drink. Or commingle the two while attempting to run for office or dodging an office-seeker. The line to gain entry stretched down Ellis and around the corner to Powell, where it absolutely dwarfed the queue for the cable car. And little wonder. There’s no free booze or food on the cable car, and you’re not going to find the paterfamilias of the City Family reveling over the scene in attire that could perhaps be best described as off-Pepto.

A steady supply of aspirational elected officials made their way through the throngs in the one place in the city where there was not a goddamn vote to be had. Several stared at their interlocuters blankly when confronted with a query approximating karaoke-night drunken serenaders shout-singing Piano Man by Billy Joel: “Man, what are you doing here?”

Some had their excuses: Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin sprinted along the barricade, high-fiving the crowd like Steve Kerr at the Warriors victory parade en route to oversee today’s Board of Supervisors meeting. District 1 hopeful Marjan Philhour said she couldn’t skip the event as the restaurant’s proprietor is a longtime friend — and she multitasked the downtown trip into a photo-op dropping off her ballot at City Hall. 

Would-be Board of Education commissioner Supriya Ray worked the line — but, of course, everyone here had voted already. There are very few San Francisco voters up for grabs at this late hour and in-person voting in this city, like afternoon newspapers, is essentially a thing of the past. Perhaps the only man in the vicinity who hadn’t voted yet was Board of Appeals member J.R. Eppler. And he assured me that he already had his mind made up; he’s just waiting to pick up his kid after school so they can vote together. 

Ray, however, took solace in finding Brixton, a golden retriever outfitted in patriotic attire. The candidate was identifiable by two young staffers carrying her campaign signs. Brixton, meanwhile, has his own Instagram page.

But, no: Despite what the possible next president of the United States may tell you, in San Francisco, only human beings can vote. 

— Joe Eskenazi

District 3 candidates Moe Jamil and Matt Susk campaigned together for three hours this morning — and both believe they have a strong enough coalition to beat another leading candidate, Danny Sauter.

Tonight, the first drop of votes comes in at 8:45 p.m. and Susk offered his take on what he hopes to see: “If we are 20 percent of whatever the count is,” we are in good shape, said Susk, who holds one of the most tough-on-crime views among all District 3 candidates.

And as long Sauter is less than 35 percent, ”his prospect doesn’t look good, because I don’t know how many second and third-place votes he’ll have,” added Susk. 

Jamil agreed that their alliance against Sauter had been effective. “I think Sharon [Lai], myself and Matt have, particularly for the last several weeks, come together well,” said Jamil. “I think the citizens of District 3 will benefit from this unity.”

Jamil said when the first results come in at 8:45 p.m. if he has three to five thousand votes, he will be in good shape. District 3 has just over 40,000 votes.

Jamil’s prediction for the final result? Sauter first, Lai second, Jamil third and Susk fourth.

And once Susk is eliminated in ranked-choice voting, Jamil thinks he will win. 

Let’s see what Sauter says.

I found District 3 candidate Danny Sauter in Chinatown.

Sauter said he wants to “finish with a good margin of first-place votes.” 

“Sharon’s getting traction with progressives, Moe’s getting traction with conservatives,” he said. 

In a way, the alliance his competitors have formed means they perceive him as the biggest threat. But it doesn’t feel good to be the one being attacked, said Sauter, who spoke as he communicated easily with Chinatown grannies in Cantonese.

“Very handsome,” a granny said in response. “You look younger in person,” said another.

— Yujie Zhou

Aaron Peskin and Sharon Lai were also in Chinatown, leading a parade of supporters. They’re chanting something along the lines of “Sharon Lai: Can’t Go Wrong!” and “Peskin! Victory is Assured! You can rest easy with them in office!” said Anthony Ching Ho Leung.

“One chant is for me and one chant is for her,” says Peskin. “I think mine says I have a good heart.”

“We don’t have to pay people,” added Peskin.

The parade stops at Jackson and Peskin races across the street and disappears into Sandy’s Lucky Bamboo and Florist. “I had to invite Sandy to my election party!” he says, when he re-emerges.

Along the way, Peskin and Lai pass out campaign literature. Tonal languages are not his strong suit, he says, but Peskin has a small repertoire of Cantonese phrases that he’s built up over the years — now he knows Cantonese for both “mayor” and “supervisor.”

Lai reports getting a lot of classic granny talk, including “That pretty girl on the flier? Is that really you?” and “You look so much fatter on your billboards!” 

Lai has lost a little weight since the photos were taken, she says. Less because of the stress of campaigning and more because the campaign trail involves a lot of walking. “The best exercise routine you can have,” she says, “is working on a campaign.” 

Lai quit her job in June to focus on her campaign full-time — before this, she did climate work for the World Economic Forum and before that she worked in city planning and housing development, including tiny houses for homeless San Franciscans.

“How do you manage to do this in heels?” Lai asks Jane Kim, the former District 6 supervisor, who has joined the march. Kim is wearing an immaculate hot pink suit and heels. Lai is wearing white sneakers and a red blazer over a T-shirt printed with the face of a teenage Kamala Harris. Peskin is dressed in a sharp blue suit.

“Old habit from the school board,” says Kim. “If I didn’t wear heels people thought I was a student.”

The march reaches Columbus Avenue and Peskin dashes into KO Dry Cleaners to invite the proprietor to his party tonight at Bimbo’s. “She has tailored so many of my suits!” exclaims Kim, running in after him. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been in for so long!” The pandemic was a hard time for fashion, she says.

Peskin’s next stop will be Willie Brown’s electoral luncheon. “It’s a human rights violation,” he says, declining to elaborate further. A few more selfies with supporters and he’s off.

— H.R. Smith

Excitement at Garfield Pool, and Latinos for Trump

A constant wave of voters cast their ballots at Garfield pool this morning in excitement and anxiety ahead of the election results.

One of those voters, Sarah Thomson, returned from Mexico City last night just in time for Election Day. “I feel great about it,” said Thompon. “The very least we can do is vote.”

Thompson visited the city for Día de los Muertos in the Mexican capital, an experience she described as unforgettable.

Ahead of tonight’s results, Thompson said she would like to see unity and more services to those in need in District 9 regardless of the results.

As they exited the polls, another pair of voters took a photo in front of the election banner. The Latino father and son said they support former president Donald Trump in his bid back to the White House.

“It comes down to abortion and the LGBTQ+ agenda that is being pushed to the children,” said the pair, who chose not to be named for fear of backlash.

When asked if they are affected by Trump’s attacks against the Latino population, the two said they do not believe the insults are targeting the whole Latino population, only those who are doing bad things.

Poll workers at the building said people coming in seem energized, and that the number of voters appears to be greater than in previous elections.

“It’s been a constant flow all morning,” said Colombe Chappey, a native of France who applied for citizenship the day after Trump won in 2020.

A lover of politics, Chappey said it is exciting to be part of this democratic process, and in past years, she has worked in four previous elections.

“This is my contribution to this country,” said Chappey.

— Oscar Palma

Teachers get up to rally for union-endorsed SFUSD candidates 

Members of the teachers’ union rallied support for the union-endorsed school board candidates at Castro and Market this morning.

Jodie Sheffels, a sixth-grade math and science teacher at the Bessie Carmichael PreK-8 school in SoMa, was there at 6:45 a.m.

One of the union’s priorities this election is keeping progressive incumbent Matt Alexander on the board, Sheffels said. She called Alexander a “strong ally to educators and students” for his work on the 2022 Student Success measure to provide the district with annual funding toward students’ academic achievement and well-being, which voters passed. 

More recently, Sheffels said, Alexander pushed to scrap the superintendent’s school closure plan.

The union has also endorsed Parag Gupta, Jaime Huling and John Jersin.

Sheffels said that people are hoping for stability in SFUSD schools moving forward, and for creative solutions to balancing the budget — “not on the backs of students and families.”

This is Sheffels’ sixth year as a teacher. Once the rally was over, she planned to head back to Bessie Carmichael to teach a full day of classes. 

— Anne Li

“Cautiously optimistic!” That’s how District 5 candidate Dean Preston is feeling as he and his team speak to voters in the Tenderloin today.

“I voted at 7:30 a.m. this morning and visited every neighborhood in the district after that. I’m feeling good. It’s all adrenaline carrying us through till 8 p.m. tonight.” 

Preston was greeting many supporters who eagerly shouted “Hi Dean!” when they recognized him on the corner of Turk and Hyde.

He’s on his way to the Board of Supervisors meeting this afternoon — “It’s Tuesday, after all,” he said, of the regular 2 p.m. meeting. 

Preston has lived in District 5 for 28 years and feels a strong connection to its many neighborhoods. “All of my opponents just moved here, but I’ve been here for a long time.” The reactions he gets after knocking on doors fuel him. 

 “I ran a values-based campaign and people connect with that when I talk to them in person. Even when we disagree, they know where I stand and where I’m coming from. But online it’s different. GrowSF funded a million-dollar smear campaign against me. It’s all digital. Check YouTube and you’ll see the ads. In person when I interact with people I feel confident, but no one knows the impact that the digital smear campaign will have.”

— Julia Gitis

Even on Election Day, Ocean Beach is sleepy. Poll workers at the United Irish Cultural Center had collected just over 30 ballots. They shrugged when asked to describe the mood: “Calm,” they concluded.

Diana and Gandhia, residents of Ingleside and Park Merced, celebrated casting their ballots at Java Beach café. They were particularly passionate about the local propositions.

Prop. K, Diana said, had caused needless drama that distracted from real issues downtown. 

And, while it “breaks my heart” to vote against a school bond, Gandhia said, she felt she had to do it after seeing how funds were mismanaged.

Puppy break: King Charles spaniels Carla Jean and Odin have been “bringing joy to lots of voters today,” their owners said at the No. 57 bus stop near Lake Merced.

San Francisco State University’s polling station overflowed with students — every designated voting booth was full and a line ran through the student annex. Students began taking their ballots to far corners of the large room, filling them out cross-legged on the floor or leaning on the large stage. 

Many said they were nervous — they were voting for the first time and found the system confusing. Several had just moved to San Francisco for school, and were figuring out how to register or send in their absentee ballots.

Outside the polling station, two first-time voters said they hoped Americans would “give Kamala a chance.” Donald Trump already had a turn in office, one said, and that led to people “storming the capitol.”

There have certainly been some “characters” at the polling station at Jefferson Elementary School, said Musa, who became a poll worker four elections ago “to give something back.”. One man came wearing a trash bag over sleeves with Stars and Stripes. Under the trash bag, Musa said he later learned, was a Trump shirt.

Some people are just very “patriotic” Musa said, describing the mood that morning as “positive” regardless of political affiliation. 

“A lot of people will thank you for doing this,” said Allen Brignetti, a retiree who is working the polls for the ninth time. “That makes my day.”

There has been a “maddening amount” of campaign mailers, a mailman in District 7 said.

He’s delivered as many as 3,000 campaign ads a day. His coworkers who have worked for the postal service for over two decades, he said, think this year has been the “craziest yet.”

— Abigail Vân Neely

We’re going to take a walk back in time with Julia Gitis in District 5.

11:45 a.m. Bilal Mahmood’s campaign headquarters in the Fillmore are pretty empty today, with all staff and volunteers focused on literature drops and last-minute voter outreach.

Jessica Gutierrez Garcia, Mahmood’s political director, says Mahmood was walking Fillmore Street in the morning canvassing with Mayor Breed. “He’s been talking to voters, and now he’s dropping lit at doors,” says Gutierrez Garcia. Volunteers’ excitement — and exhaustion — are palpable.

11:30 a.m. Poll workers at a garage near Alamo square are feeling “a lot of good energy,” says poll inspector Adrian. They’ve already had 35 people vote in person and around 130 drop off ballots.

A popular tourist attraction, Alamo Square’s polling locations are attracting visitors wondering what’s up with the stickers. “We just had a group from Norway stop by,” Adrian said. “They were curious.”

10:44 a.m. Poll workers at a homeowner’s garage on Page and Baker have been here since 6 a.m. “We’ve got caffeine and we’re okay,” says Claire. They estimate around 20 people have voted in person and at least 100 have dropped off their ballots.

What’s the most fun part of being a poll worker? “The dogs are the highlights. Some of the dogs get I Voted stickers too.”

10:21 a.m. Christin Evans, campaign volunteer for Dean Preston, says they’ve been organizing get-out-the-vote efforts since Saturday. “If the Department of Elections has indicated that they haven’t turned in their ballot yet, we send people out,” Evans said, looking at a map.

Jen Snyder, campaign strategist, says Preston is “riding the bus and talking to voters.” The “Dean Team” is coordinating with Aaron Peskin’s office and supporting Peskin for mayor, with volunteers holding signs for both candidates.

10:11 a.m. Looking ahead to a long day of sitting at the polls, workers at the Urban school say they keep their energy up by handing out stickers and applauding first-time voters: one had turned 18 that day. “She did not want her mom taking photos of her first time voting,” they laughed.

— Julia Gitis

District 3 candidate Sharon Lai’s volunteers prepare for an 11 a.m march in Chinatown

At least two dozen Cantonese-speaking grandmas organized by the Community Tenants Association gathered in front of Sharon Lai’s District 3 campaign headquarters on Tuesday morning, to receive Lai’s signs. A few Aaron Peskin signs were also in the crowd.

Lai, who had just returned from an early morning visit on Polk Street, was welcomed by the grandmas’ warm greetings. 

“Everyone is a little emotional today,” said Lai, who said a woman prayed for her in Burmese this morning. 

As for the election result, Lai expects “a significant percentage of votes to transfer” to her, said the candidate who recently formed an alliance with Moe Jamil.

One block away, Lai volunteer Lulu was hard to miss — she dressed exactly like her candidate. “I’m a total, total supporter. She represents the best going on in San Francisco’s Democratic Party right now,” said Lulu.

— Yujie Zhou

10 a.m. In the Excelsior, Ernest “EJ” Jones campaigns alongside D10 Supervisor Shamann Walton — Michael Lai greets voters with Catherine Stefani and DA Brooke Jenkins

At around 10 a.m., District 11 candidate Ernest “EJ” Jones, carrying a yellow tote of his voter guides in one hand and his signs in the other, met up with District 10 supervisor Shamann Walton in front the Excelsior Branch Library.

The two quickly moved to stand in front of the Excelsior Coffee at 4495 Mission St., where Lea Sabado, Jones’ supporter and the coffee shop’s owner, handed him a small cup of espresso.

“Just the pick-me-up I need,” Jones said with a smile.

About 10 minutes earlier, Michael Lai, another District 11 supervisorial hopeful, was standing at the corner of Geneva Avenue and Mission Street, campaigning alongside District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who is seeking re-election, and District 2 supervisor Catherine Stefani, who is running for State Assembly.

As I arrived at the corner, Jenkins and Stefani were leaving. But Lai — who is facing a much closer race and more pressure than the two — stuck around, handing out flyers and holding his red signs.

Lai said that last night, someone had taken down his rows of signs on the wall of Bravo Pizza where he stood to greet customers. 

— Xueer Lu 

Proud father walks supervisorial hopeful son to the polling station

Jorge Bermudez walked down 26th Street this morning to the polling station, next to his 28 year-old son and District 9 candidate Julian Bermudez.

Voting together is a tradition for the father and his son. This time, however, his son’s candidacy made the walk special.  

Coffee cup in hand, Julian Bermudez said the caffeine was necessary, as sleep was hard to come last night.

“I felt a little anxious last night so I decided to go for a drive,” said Bermudez, adding that he made a stop at Jack in the Box on Bayshore Boulevard for a chicken sandwich.

As the two approached the polling station, Bermudez’s father encouraged his son to feel proud of everything he had accomplished in this race.

“He’s building something here. Even if he doesn’t win this seat, he’s opening a door for future generations of first-generation immigrant kids,” said Jorge Bermudez. “For that, I’m so proud of him”

— Oscar Palma 

Early exit polling from young pollsters

Outside Cafe International on Haight Street, four students from San Francisco School House are running their very own exit poll.

“So far, Harris is going to win in a landslide,” joked their teacher Ben Yurman-Glaser.

Their sample size is around a dozen people. Later, the students will compare their collected data to the precinct-level results.

— Kelly Waldron 

At around 9 a.m., District supervisor candidate Adlah Chisti’s headquarters at 4760 Mission St. was quiet. Jeremy Cursi, her campaign manager was the only one sitting in the dimly lit room waiting for voters to drop in.

“I wear many hats. I’m the campaigner manager, dispatcher, and sometimes chauffeur,” said Cursi, looking tired while sipping coffee. “But I’m more than happy to do so.”

Chisti’s signs and printed news articles about the District 11 race were spread out across the table. Cursi said Chisti was out checking in on her daughter and father before starting out a day of campaigning.

A few doors down south at 4802 Mission St., Vanessa Pimentel, the campaign manager for District 11 candidate Ernest “EJ” Jones, was helping volunteers get signs.

“I’m very excited for today because you can see the end of it,” said Pimentel, beaming with a smile on their face. On the last day of campaigning, Pimentel is multitasking: They are working the campaign, but also writing up a thesis paper to complete a graduate school program in urban and public affairs at the University of San Francisco.

Sharon Liu-Bettencourt, Michael Lai’s campaign manager, at campaign headquarters at 4735 Mission St., agreed. She was there to join Lai at the corner of Mission Street and Geneva Avenue.

This is Liu-Bettencourt’s first campaign, and she said at this point in the race, she just wishes to finish off the day and finally be able to go home.

— Xueer Lu

This morning, residents of the Lower Haight cast their ballots as they drank their morning coffee at Cafe International. Zahra Saleh, who owns the cafe on Haight Street, has accommodated a polling station at the cafe for over 20 years. Cafe regulars (including myself) sat outside on the back patio, leaving room for the polling workers and tables.

“Civic duty,” she said, putting slices of carrot cake onto a glass dish, wearing a green beanie with an “I voted” sticker.

“It’s bad for business,” she said. “But good for the community.”

— Kelly Waldron

District 9 candidate Stephen Torres worked until 11:30 p.m. last night at Twin Peaks Tavern in the Castro, where he bartends. Six or so hours later, the supervisorial hopeful was up and running with one single goal in mind: Reaching as many undecided voters as possible on Election Day.

But first things first. Torres, as is his tradition, voted in person at a polling station at the intersection of 29th and Tiffany streets. The candidate spent about 15 minutes voting while his campaign manager waited outside with a steamy cup of coffee.

“I feel really excited this morning. I am really proud of the campaign we’ve been running so far,” said Torres. His message, he said, “has resonated with so many, and that makes me happy.”

There was, however, lots to do.

“I’m gonna be running from one place to the next,” said Torres. “All day long trying to talk to as many people as possible.”

As Torres left the station, Maureen McKeown, a poll worker, waved goodbye and thanked him for voting.

McKeown, who has worked in two previous elections, said she had already seen a lot of energy in voters.

“It’s really interesting. People seem very motivated in this election,” said McKeown, who finished by describing San Francisco voters as “very chill.”

— Oscar Palma

Myrna Melgar, the incumbent District 7 supervisor, stood at the intersection of Irving Street and 9th Avenue around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, holding signs for her re-election and “Yes on K” campaign.

Just across the street, there was a sign of Melgar’s opponent Matt Boschetto in the second-floor living room window of someone’s home. The N-Judah train passing by, and filled with commuters, means high visibility — exactly what campaigns look for on Election Day.

“I’m gonna vote for you,” a woman told Melgar, before she started asking her how the Stonestown project is going.

“I’m spending most of my time where I have a big base of support,” said Melgar wearing her lucky golden sneakers and blue eyeliner. That is the Inner Sunset, Golden Gate Heights, and areas around San Francisco State University.

“I don’t want to get in a big fight with people. I don’t want to get into anyone’s face,” she added. Later in the day, she will join Mayor London Breed at West Portal Station, where there’s a more moderate electorate.

“I feel good,” the incumbent said. “If I don’t get elected, it will be over the right things.”

— Junyao Yang

At the busy intersection of Park Presidio and Fulton, campaigners from different camps held up signs as rush hour traffic whizzed by. There was also a man in a cloak holding up a cross.

Those holding No on Prop. K and Mark Farrell signs only spoke Chinese.

J’Anthony Menjivar, a member of NorCal Carpenters Union campaigning for London Breed, said the morning was less about talking to voters and more about trying to get any visibility possible in the final hours.

The flow of voters has been nonstop since 7 a.m. at the San Francisco County Fair building in Golden Gate Park. Despite early-morning technical difficulties — poll workers said they arrived to find the building closed and had to do an emergency set-up — by 9 a.m. first-time poll inspector DeAnne Campbell estimated there had almost been 50 voters.

High-schoolers Isa and Kaylee collected ballots while another poll-worker helped a man in a wheelchair through the voting process.

Campbell flitted around the polling station, making sure everything was secure and running smoothly. Though she said she was “all kinds of nervous,” veteran poll workers said she was doing a great job.

“Now we wait,” a family said after their young daughter dropped off her mom’s ballot and collected a sticker.

Meanwhile, a block away, District 7 supervisor Myrna Melgar joined forces with college board president Alan Wong on 9th and Irving. A teacher stopped by on his bike, asking Melgar if it was true that someone was running against her. Her opponent, she said, was a billionaire. “You’re the more progressive candidate, right?” He asked, adding that he always voted for progressives.

Wong chimed in that he was also endorsed by the school board.

— Abigail Van Neely

Aaron Peskin did not swim in the bay this morning, but reports that he saw the greatest sunrise of his life. He pulls out his cellphone to show people.

“Pink for Kamala” one of the volunteers says excitedly.

There are not many commuters out. A lot of people are saying “I already voted” and quite a few “I already voted for YOU.” A few ask for selfies.

“Good morning! Buenos Días! Have you voted yet? I’m Aaron I’m running for mayor! Arron por alcalde!” Peskin says — Aaron for mayor.

Another volunteer Sarah Souza encourages him to switch it up.

“Yo soy Arron,” she says to him. “Necesito su apoyo.” I need your support.

One guy stops and says “Is there a polling place near here?

There is indeed. “474 Valencia!” says another volunteer.

“Oh, my God, I thought you were a lot larger” says a man wheeling his bicycle out of the station. He says he’s voting for “the other guy. But he’s probably not going to win. He’s not very involved. He’s not returning my phone calls.”

“Vote for me number two!” says Peskin cheerfully.

“I’m not gonna vote two, I’m just gonna vote one time, dude. But he’s probably not going to win. It’s Farrell.”

“Oh yeah,” says Peskin. “That guy is definitely not going to win.”

“Listen,” says Souza. “This is the only guy endorsed by the working people.” The two murmur for a while. “Alright,” says the bicycle guy, “voting for you number two.”

— H.R. Smith

I’m always out earliest on Election Day, but not in 2024. As I approached the 16th Street Plaza, there was mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin and Mission Local reporter H.R. Smith. Such a pleasure to see. It will be a long day for both, but Peskin said he is feeling good and Smith is there to document his moods over what promises to be a mayoral count of several days. Prop. M advocates were out as well.

If you’re wondering where your polling station is, check this Voter Portal. 

And, you can always go to City Hall to register to vote, to vote and to drop off your ballot.

Anxious about the election and need some comic relief? Check out the best and worst San Francisco campaign ads from 2024. That pre-election blog has a lot of great content including a map of where the candidates spent their last weekend.

And if you are wondering how much was spent on Chinese media to get that coveted Chinese-American vote, take a look at this story

— Lydia Chavez