What to know about San Francisco's mayoral race
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Supporters of various mayor candidates at last week's debate. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
More than a dozen candidates have qualified for the November ballot in a mayoral race that political observers say will be a referendum on incumbent Mayor London Breed's tenure.
Why it matters: San Francisco residents will decide either to reelect Breed, who is seeking a second full term, or go in another direction as the city grapples with a drug overdose epidemic, a homelessness crisis and a struggling downtown.
What they're saying: Voters will ultimately determine whether the city "should move further to the right" or "take a more progressive approach," longtime political consultant Jim Ross told Axios via email.
- The candidate who "wins will be the one that presents the most compelling case to voters that they can make progress" in addressing those longstanding issues, he added.
State of play: Breed, former Mayor Mark Farrell, anti-poverty nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie, and supervisors Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safaí faced off in the first mayoral debate of the season last week following the June 11 filing deadline.
Yes, but: Eight other candidates have qualified for the race: security specialist Henry Flynn, engineer Dylan Hirsch-Shell, business owner and teacher Keith Freedman, software engineer Nelson Mei, Paul Ybarra Robertson (self-employed), transportation engineer Shahram Shariati, Jon Soderstrom, and social worker Ellen Lee Zhou.
By the numbers: Breed's campaign has raised about $658,000, Lurie's has raised about $520,000, and Safaí's has brought in about $333,000, according to campaign filings.
- However, independent committees that support Lurie have raised north of $3 million, while those supporting Breed have raised about $265,000.
- Filings for other candidates will be available in July, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
What's next: Tune in to the San Francisco Democratic Party's mayoral debate on Monday night to hear from the five frontrunners.
- The free event at UC Law San Francisco will also be livestreamed on the SF Democratic Party's Facebook page and on KRON4's website.