UPDATE AS OF 5/17: This event has been canceled due to political theatrics from Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Mayor London Breed, and Daniel Lurie. We’re sorry their discomfort with facing difficult questions caused us all to lose out on a great opportunity to discuss the future of our city. Thank you for your interest and stay tuned for more events and voter education leading up to the November election.
MEET THE CANDIDATES
Mayor London Breed*
London Breed has served as the Mayor of San Francisco since her election to the office in July 2018. Previously, she served on the Board of Supervisors from 2013 until Mayor Ed Lee's death in December 2017, when she became acting mayor for a short period. She was also the Executive Director of the African American Art & Culture Complex from 2002 to 2012. In her time as mayor, Mayor Breed’s administration led San Francisco through the COVID-19 pandemic with notably low death rates, and opened close to 400 behavioral health treatment beds in the city.
*Declined to participate in debate
Mark Farrell
Mark Farrell served as Interim Mayor of San Francisco from January to July 2018 after the Board of Supervisors temporarily appointed him to succeed London Breed. Previously, he served on the Board of Supervisors starting in 2011, and has been the managing director of Thayer Ventures since 2009, excepting his time in office. In his time as acting mayor, Farrell’s administration cleared San Francisco’s largest homeless encampments in six months.
Daniel Lurie*
Daniel Lurie is the founder of Tipping Point Community, a nonprofit designed to fight chronic homelessness and poverty in the Bay Area. He served as the CEO of Tipping Point Community from 2005 to 2019, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2020 to 2023. In 2017, Lurie started the Chronic Homelessness Initiative, committing to raise $100 million over two years to reduce chronic homelessness in the city by 50 percent.
*Declined to participate in debate
Supervisor Aaron Peskin*
Aaron Peskin is the current president of the Board of Supervisors, serving District 3 since his election in 2015, and two previous terms from 2001 to 2009. Throughout his career, Peskin has leveraged city government power to preserve and expand historical districts in San Francisco through the California Environmental Quality Act and the Historical Preservation Commission.
*Declined to participate in debate
Supervisor Ahsha Safaí
Ahsha Safaí has served on the Board of Supervisors since his election in 2017. Previously, he was the Political Director for the San Francisco Janitors Union – Local 87 from 2008 to 2016. Safaí added Prop B to the ballot for the March 2024 primary election, and introduced an ordinance this year to make Homeward Bound a permanent city program.
ON THE BLOG
“In order to fix San Franciscans’ biggest concerns and pull the city out of this economic downturn, we need a mayor who’s going to maximize opportunities to get sh*t done.”
PLAY DEBATE BINGO!
You know how certain phrases keep popping up in SF politics? We noticed too—so we made it a BINGO game. Print your card at home and follow along as you watch the livestream. File includes 20 unique cards, so everyone in your group can play.