Manny Yekutiel ended his campaign for District 8 supervisor on Thursday after two more men accused him of sexual assault.
His name, however, will still appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, according to Director of Elections John Arntz.
“Candidates cannot withdraw their nominations after the filing deadline, which was on June 9,” Arntz wrote in an email to Mission Local. Ballots were issued to overseas voters on Sept. 19, he said, and vote-by-mail ballots went out on Thursday.
Two rival District 8 campaigns expressed little concern.
“District 8 voters are definitely very well informed. They do their research, and this has been a pretty big kind of event,” said candidate Michael Nguyen, who had dinner on Thursday night with fellow candidates Gary McCoy and Darshini Patel.
McCoy’s spokesperson Catie Stewart and political consultant Daniel Anderson echoed that view. Both pointed to former gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell, who was polling at around 18 percent in two surveys before withdrawing amid detailed sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell ultimately received 0.3 percent votes statewide.
“I think that voters are pretty in tune with knowing who has dropped out of the races,” Anderson said.
“I’m not worried about that,” Stewart added. “Eric Swalwell had a handful of people who still voted for him just not understanding what had happened, or whatever.”
In a local example, former San Francisco school board candidate Josephine Zhao received a mere 3.39 percent of votes after dropping out of a race where each voter could choose up to three candidates.
Before she ended her candidacy after troubling statements were revealed, Zhao had fundraised more than any of her opponents and was considered one of the top contenders.
Yekutiel had been generally considered the frontrunner until Thursday. Despite a June accusation of sexual assault by political organizer Brad Chapin, Yekutiel was subsequently endorsed by both the San Francisco Democratic Party and Mayor Daniel Lurie. Yekutiel’s support quickly vanished after the allegations, and he subsequently withdrew.
He said in a statement that he would “end my campaign for District 8 Supervisor,” but offered no further details. His spokesperson, Patrick McCabe, declined to directly answer whether Yekutiel would serve if still elected.
“I think if Manny were to somehow in some freak way win — which again, I don’t think is very likely at all — I don’t think he would accept the role,” Stewart said. “He would be facing a lot of pressure to not take it.”
The San Francisco Democratic Party endorsement of Yekutiel which has already been printed on its mailers which have been mailed will remain in place until at least Oct. 11, when the party reconsiders the endorsement.
Several party members, however, feel that’s too long to wait. In the interim, San Franciscans will be voting.
If he somehow wins then we residents of San Francisco will hound him until he resigns. He folded once, he will fold again. As for his campaign, can’t shame the shameless right?
If Manny wins then he will probably resign immediately, and then the Mayor will appoint someone. Given that I do not like any of the three candidates left running, I think that is an outcome worth voting for.