Mission Local is publishing a daily campaign dispatch for each of the major contenders in the mayor’s race, alternating among candidates weekly until November. This week: Mark Farrell. Read earlier dispatches here.
For a Saturday morning, mayoral candidate Mark Farrell’s supporters rose early to make it to the grand opening of his campaign’s headquarters. If they weren’t quite awake upon arrival at 9 a.m., the sound of blaring pop music and a lion dance did the trick. That, and the Starbucks coffee and chocolate-covered donuts.
“My kids were not happy when I dragged them out of bed this morning,” said Farrell, between greeting constituents. Nearby, his three children, all wearing orange Farrell campaign T-shirts like the other volunteers, appeared fully awake.
The atmosphere along West Portal Avenue was mellow and relatively quiet, with some locals walking to get a coffee or breakfast, and others on their way to a yoga class. But the office space at 299 West Portal Ave., at the corner of 14th Avenue, was buzzing. Supporters, volunteers, staffers and many of Farrell’s relatives filled the room to the brim.
Farrell is the first candidate to set roots on the city’s Westside. The area is an important base for Farrell, as it leans more conservative and is home to a larger share of single-family homeowners. His main contenders have all opened their offices in more central Mission and Castro locations.
Since entering the mayoral race in February, Farrell appears to be well-positioned. While his margin is slim, polling results point to him in first place, closely followed by incumbent Mayor London Breed and Daniel Lurie, a Levi Strauss heir and nonprofit CEO. And, although campaign finance disclosures are not yet available, his campaign said he raised more than $520,000 (within 100 days of declaring his candidacy) — more than any other candidate.
But there are five months to go until the election in November, and Farrell’s campaign is trying to keep up the momentum.
Around 9:30 a.m., after two dozen Chinese “grannies” walked in together — almost in procession — and sat down in reserved seating, the scheduled programming began: A lion dance, followed by speeches from former deputy police chief Garret Tom; Larry Mazzola Jr. from UA Local 38; the candidate’s wife, Liz Farrell; and, of course, Farrell.
Using the word “imagine” no fewer than 12 times, Farrell compelled the audience to imagine a rosier picture of San Francisco, one where public safety is not an issue and the economy is thriving.
While other campaign events have focused on laying out policy priorities, Saturday’s event centered around mobilizing volunteers.
“I am going to share with you my deepest, darkest fear,” said Farrell, addressing the crowd. It’s that everybody who showed up at 9 a.m. on a Saturday gets complacent,” he said. “We cannot rest on our laurels.”
“We’re ahead, but we’re not comfortably ahead, in my opinion,” said Sophie Marie, Farrell’s campaign field director, who asked supporters to help reach her goal of knocking on 200,000 doors by August. That goal is ambitious: It makes up more than half of the total number of households (362,000) in San Francisco.
Marie gave the crowd a pep talk on how to speak to constituents in 30-second pitches by picking a policy area, and choosing a personal story or anecdote that resonates. “For example, I choose public safety. It’s a very big issue to me that my mom does not feel safe walking home from work alone. So I share that with people,” she said.
“That will be stronger than any talking point we have ever made on this campaign,” said Marie.
Several of the campaign’s nearly 40 high school and college interns stood by the main door in bright orange shirts, handing out Farrell-branded swag (glasses, pins, and bumper stickers), holding clipboards and asking guests to sign up and volunteer.
“We’re the friendly campaign. We are polite. We are energetic. We’re warm,” Marie told the volunteers as she addressed the audience and encouraged them to go out door-knocking. “You’re optimistic. That is the energy you are bringing to the doors today.”
I personally gave Mark a $500 check at a local fundraiser. It has not been cashed. Got an email from someone complaining about not enough info. So I answered all the questions. Still unwashed. Over 3 months ago. Should I just stop payment on the check?
His stink from association with the rightwing TogetherSF creeps should doom his chances with anyone paying attention.
So eone should have told Mark: orange is the new black. I know he’s going for the white male home owner, Catholic pro cop vote and all and he’s hoping sheep voters will associate orange with the Giants. Talk about a shite sandwich and a nothing burger. I just can’t Mark.