Welcome back to our โMeet the Candidatesโ series, where District 8 supervisor candidates respond to a question in 100 words or fewer. Answers are published every Wednesday.
District 8 includes neighborhoods in the center of the city, including the Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park, Twin Peaks, Duboce Triangle, Dolores Heights, Parnassus Heights, Ashbury Heights, Corona Heights and Diamond Heights.
Last Thursday, Manny Yekutiel dropped out of the District 8 supervisor race after two new sexual assault allegations were published by the San Francisco Standard. They followed an accusation from Brad Chapin that the Standard published in June. Yekutiel will no longer be included in the Meet the Candidates series.
Sexual assault has been on the mind of San Franciscans for other reasons, too, though. Over the past few weeks, the story of an alleged gang rape on Cornellโs campus has reinvigorated the national conversation about consent and supporting sexual assault survivors.ย
Here in the city on Thursday, Supervisor Myrna Melgar will host a hearing about how SFPD can improve its investigations of sex crimes. SFPD cleared only 14 percent of rape cases last year, half the national average.
This weekโs question: What should the city do to better support survivors of sexual assault?
Darshini Patel
- Job: Former DoorDash employee, worked on the 2012 Obama campaign and the 2024 Harris campaign, former Obama staffer
- Age: 38
- Residency: Homeowner, has lived in District 8 for 10 cumulative years since 2010
- Transportation: Public transit, walking and biking
- Education: Bachelorโs degree from Wellesley College
- Languages: Gujarati, English
Our system forces those who do come forward to face a long, invasive and dehumanizing process.
San Francisco’s record is unacceptable.
- Survivors should have an advocate at every stage of a police or DA interaction unless they opt out, not opt in.
- Officers must receive trauma-response training.
- City Hall must fully fund SHARP and the Office of Victim and Witness Rights so they can fill their staff vacancies.
- The SFPD, the DA, and victim services need a secure system to share information, so a survivor only needs to relive their story once, not five times.
See Patelโs full answer here.
Endorsed by: UESF, Solidarity Club SF, San Franciscans for Social Housing, Small Business Forward, Supervisor Myrna Melgar (#2), Rose Pak Asian American Club (#3)
Gary McCoy
- Job: Former staffer to Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and former vice president of policy and public affairs at HealthRIGHT 360
- Age: 48
- Residency: Renter, has lived in San Francisco for 24 years and District 8 for 15 years
- Transportation: Driving, biking, public transit and walking
- Education: Former City College of San Francisco student, certified phlebotomy technician from Bay Area Medical Academy
- Languages: English
The Office of Victims and Witness Rights was established by the voters to support survivors, but it remained largely unfunded for far too long. We must identify and provide a continued stream of funding for legal aid and other victim support, and we must listen when the Office says that a survivor is credible, as they did with Brad Chapin and other survivors.
Most importantly, we must stand with and believe survivors, even when it comes at a political cost. Our political establishment failed Brad. We canโt let that happen again.
Endorsed by: Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, State Sen. Scott Wiener, Supervisor Matt Dorsey, San Francisco Labor Council, Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, San Francisco Tenants Union, UESF … see more here.
Michael Nguyen
- Job: Patent attorney
- Age: 44
- Residency: Renter, has lived in District 8 since 2006
- Transportation: Driving, public transit and walking
- Education: Bachelorโs degree from Southwestern University, law degree from University of California Law San Francisco
- Languages: English, some Spanish, some Vietnamese
The status quo has failed survivors, and only a fundamental shift in how local leaders view assault will change that. As a member of the DCCC, Iโve heard hours of testimony from survivors, heartbroken. When the first allegation surfaced against Manny Yekutiel, statewide leaders withdrew their support. Most of our local leaders put politics ahead of survivors. The Democratic Party apologized, but an apology is not accountability. I share SFWPC’s outrage.
We need robust, stable funding for survivor support services. Change starts with City leadership. As supervisor, I will make believing, protecting, and supporting survivors the standard, not the exception.
Endorsed by: GLBTQ+ Asian Pacific Alliance, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club (#2), San Francisco Green Party, former supervisor Dean Preston, UESF, Working Families Party โฆ see more here.
Candidates are ordered alphabetically and rotated each week. Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at io@missionlocal.com.
Election Day is on Nov. 3, 2026. You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
