When Mayor Daniel Lurie went door-knocking with Supervisor Alan Wong two weeks before the election, he told Wong and a dozen of volunteers, “I like to just win by a lot, so no one thinks about running against you this November.”
That big win materialized on Tuesday night: Wong easily beat his opponents, winning a near-majority in a five-way race off the bat and, after ranked-choice, dominating the No. 2 Natalie Gee 70-to-30.
But that happened with little emphasis on Wong the candidate, his personal bona fides or his legislative track record — he has only been in office six months, after all, since Lurie appointed him on Dec. 1.
Instead, what carried the day was a simple message: Alan Wong will be one more reliable vote for Mayor Lurie’s agenda.
“It’s an awakening of how much influence the mayor has,” said Jamie Hughes, a campaign consultant for rival Sunset candidate Albert Chow.
Catie Stewart, a political communications consultant who lives in the Sunset, said the campaign’s messaging was clear: “If Alan succeeds, the mayor succeeds.”
Wong was buoyed by nearly $1 million in outside spending from political action committees helmed by mayoral allies. The PACs’ communiques were disciplined.
“Mayor Daniel Lurie trusts Supervisor Alan Wong,” read a full-page ad in the Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon, a Westside paper seen in local cafes. “Trusted by Mayor Daniel Lurie” was a tagline on myriad mailers sent to voters’ homes, with photos of Wong and Lurie side by side.
On bustling Irving Street, a 12-foot billboard featured the duo. “Mayor Lurie supports Alan Wong for Supervisor,” it read. Other ads showed Wong and Lurie standing next to police officers and firefighters — public safety has been a priority for Lurie — and calling Wong “law enforcement’s choice for a safer Sunset.” The same mailer blasted Gee as someone “who law enforcement calls disqualifying.”
The pro-Wong, Lurie-linked PACs spent about $845,000 on mailers, ads and other communication to boost Wong and attack his opponents. In a low turnout election, less-engaged voters are more likely to choose based on such guides and flyers, said Daniel Anderson, Gee’s campaign consultant.
Lurie personally knocked on doors for Wong at least twice. He did not dwell much on Wong’s qualities in his stump speech, and instead emphasized that he needs a “partner” on the Board of Supervisors — and that Wong has been an excellent one.
Wong, Lurie said, is helping him move the city “in the right direction.”
‘Basically an inauguration’
For political observers, the consensus was that Wong would win, but they did not anticipate by how much. “The margin was bigger than anyone ever thought,” said Stewart. It seems, she said, that “District 4 wants more of a middle-of-the-road approach. Alan does represent that.”
The margin may narrow as the outstanding 122,400 votes are counted. But, barring a miracle, it will not be enough to sway the result.
The June victory will also likely thin the field for Wong in his November bid for a full four-year term; June’s election was a special to fill out Joel Engardio’s term after he was recalled. “For an appointee to win with such a resounding margin,” said Stewart. “It was basically an inauguration.”
“Absent a scandal, I wouldn’t expect Alan to have any issues” in November, echoed Jim Ross, a political consultant.
The labor unions that backed Gee in June — and were behind a heavy outlay for her, spending $354,000 — may have new priorities in November, Ross said: Open supervisor seats in Districts 8 and 10 are both up for grabs.
The question will be: “Does it make more sense to invest in one of those? Or in this seat against an incumbent?” Ross said.
Upzoning and Great Highway seem to take a back seat
For a steadfast minority of voters, the transformation of the Great Highway into a coastal park remained top of mind. The frontrunners were all against the park, but an unsought endorsement for Gee from Lucas Lux, the president of the pro-park nonprofit Friends of Sunset Dunes, may have cost her support.
“This is a district that already has trust issues,” Ross said. “You basically threw up a massive red flag for people around the No. 1 issue.”
Seventy-four percent of those who voted first for Chow, the dominant anti-park, pro-recall candidate who came in third, subsequently sent their second-place votes to Wong, giving him an extra 1,406 votes — a big boost.
After Gee’s endorsement from Lux, Chow’s campaign could not do a 1-2 ranked-choice strategy with her, said his consultant Hughes. “We hear a lot of folks were disappointed in that,” he said. “You need to think about keeping your own votes before ranked-choice.”
Still, it was not the dominant issue — even with more support from Chow’s voters, Gee was unlikely to overcome Wong. And Chow did not do well.
“I don’t think this election is about the park at all,” said Stewart. “People have moved on from the Sunset Dunes issue.”
The mayor’s upzoning plan, too, did not seem to deter residents from voting for the only candidate who supported it, despite the noise and frustration it created on the Westside. Once residents actually start seeing taller and denser buildings being built, however, that may change — but, so far, the upzoning is entirely on paper.
For Wong, the calculus is simple. As he put it in a candidate forum, “When the mayor is doing a good job, you should support him.” And support the guy supporting him.
