If the election were held tomorrow, who would you select as your next San Francisco mayor? We saw D11 Supervisor John Avalos officially toss his hat into the mayoral ring on Monday. He joins fellow former supervisors Bevan Dufty, Michela Alioto-Pier and Tony Hall, Senator Leland Yee, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, Joanna Rees, and (in all likelihood) Interim Mayor Ed Lee. Choose wisely: more ›

District 11 Supervisor John Avalos, 47, will announce today his plan to run for Mayor of San Francisco. A California native (a rarity within progressive circles), Avalos was born in Wilmington in Los Angeles. He graduated (with honors!) from UC Santa Barbara where he studied English Literature. After making it to San Francisco in 1989, the budding Supe worked as an English teacher and cafe barrista "before finding his calling in the human services and community organizing fields." Champion of the local hiring law, "Avalos was elected as supervisor and chaired the Budget and Finance Committee after he served as former Supervisor Chris Daly’s legislative aide," reports SF Examiner. more ›

In an exclusive poll conducted by CBS5 and SurveyUSA (sounds official!), the local news station found that Ed Lee would be moving in to the Mayor's office for a full term if we voted today. Of course, the poll operates under the assumption that he would actually be running, which he's not at the moment, no matter what those folks at the Chamber of Commerce tell you. more ›

Board of Supervisors President and Boston native David Chiu, 40, will toss his hat into mayoral ring today. He plans on making it official at around 11 a.m.-ish. Chiu, if you recall, caused minor waves within elite wonk circles after helping Ed Lee land the interim mayor gig. more ›

Did we say Ed Lee had no Facebook page? Scratch that. San Francisco's nascent mayor does, in fact, have a Facebook page. A fan page, actually, with not much on it. Yet. Let's see: Lee's favorite pages are California Democratic Party, Gavin Newsom, and a nonpartisan vacuum called No Labels. (Jarringly enough, Lee has yet to 'like' SFist. Bizarre, we know. Ahem.) more ›

Ed Lee was sworn in as San Francisco's first Chinese-American mayor on Tuesday. In a speech after the ceremony, Lee promised to be a mayor "for everyone." more ›

As Eve Batey pointed out in today's SF Appeal's daily newsletter, the SF Board of Supervisors just began their special meeting to choose an interim mayor for SF, which you can watch online or on Comcast channel 26. So, you know, if you're one of the 100 or so people who care about such things, be sure to tune it. (Spoiler alert: Ed Lee will be the next mayor.) more ›

Who's going to be the next mayor of San Francisco? That's the question on the minds of literally hundreds of San Franciscans. It's goes something like this: Newsom wants his replacement to be a man on the left. However, other people want his replacement to be men even further on the left. It's a tale that borders on almost-intriguing, folks. Scores of inside-baseball jobs, egos, provincial fame whoring, and "friendships" hang in the balance! more ›

Last night, the Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to postpone nominating an interim mayor. So the current board will have one last chance to pick San Francisco's Mayor for 2011 when they meet for a final time on January 4th. more ›

We asked who you wanted as the interim San Francisco mayor yesterday. A decent pool of 560 responded to our unscientific poll. The winner? David Chiu. more ›

Did you hear? Mayor Gavin Newsom will be your next Lieutenant Governor. (Who knew a complex city like San Francisco, one balancing precariously on a precipice, could also make for a perfect rung on the ladder to statewide success!) On Tuesday, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu will "introduce an ordinance that would outline the process for selecting an interim mayor." That person will serve until November of 2011. more ›

Although they won't name a mayor until later this week, it seems likely that we'll be typing "Oakland Mayor Quan" for the next four years. According to reports, Oakland Councilwoman Jean Quan might be the next mayor of Oakland. Many had pegged Don Perata as the winner, but ranked-choice voting helped Quan take the lead. more ›

It's Friday, so if you're like us you're probably wondering what former Mayor of San Francisco (slash San Francisco's Mayor) Willie Brown was up to all week. Luckily, he's been typing up a storm at Inside Scoop as well as his regular "Willie's World" column at the Chronicle proper and other than taking a moment to talk politics and imply Meg Whitman is a robot (which: duh) he really seems to enjoy sharing San Francisco's simple pleasures with his readers. more ›

It's official: Dennis Herrera is running for mayor of San Francisco. We just spoke with his office who confirmed that, yes, the San Francisco City Attorney will make a go of it. more ›

Many a wonk (and even your SFist editor, surprisingly!) have had an inkling that State Senator and former San Francisco Supervisor Mark Leno could throw his hat in the San Francisco mayoral ring. Or, at the very least, he's mulling it over right now. ''I'm looking at it at this point,'' Leno told SFGate. The Senator, it seems, received a "strong showing in a San Francisco Chamber of Commerce poll released last week," which could have prompted Leno's interest in returning to SF. more ›

While we wait for Gavin Newsom to make the official announcement that he plans on running for California Lt. Governor -- Melissa Griffin, if you recall, broke the story that Newsom might make his candidacy public today -- let's take a moment to ponder who San Francisco's next mayor might be. (If Newsom wins the awesomely lax gig of Lt. Governor, that means the Board of Supervisors gets to pick the next Mayor.) more ›

Although the election is still a couple of years away, district 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty "plans to file forms with the city's Election Department this morning announcing his intention to run [for mayor] and will immediately begin raising money and his profile," reports SFGate. more ›

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa revealed Wolf Blitzer today that he will not run for Governor. "The answer's no. I make that decision because like I've said many times, I love the city I was born and raised in, the city my grandpa came to 100 years ago," he told Blitzer. more ›

Clinton and the gays, two things that gets Gavin's tongue wagging. more ›

Much to our surprise, the motion that almost allowed our fair Mayor Gavin Newsom to eschew his monthly cameos Board of Supervisor meeting was tabled. That is to say, it was killed. Dead. According to Sweet Melissa recounts today's nail-biting Board of Supes meeting thusly: more ›

You know how Mayor Gavin Newsom is supposed to make a special guest appearance at the Board of Supervisors meeting? At least once a month? To listen to their complaints, demonstrate that he's taking an active interest in neighborhood politics, powder the Supes' tender bottoms, and such? Well, it looks like he might not have to anymore, even though you, the voter, said you wanted him there. Over at Sweet Melissa, we came across the following news: more ›

We enjoy the following review -- although we're only using part of it for it devolves into anti-Hillary rhetoric, San Francisco's latest form of socially-acceptable sexism -- because a) it turns out that Yelp has an entire category dedicated to Gavin Newsom's hair, and b) it's pro-Gavin Newsom locks. (If you want to see some actual janky-ass hair, walk down Valencia Street or sit on a bench at Zeitgeist on any given day. Because: yikes.) more ›

It looks like Mayor Gavin Newsom will take a stab at running for Governor of California in 2010. In addition to the gaggle of Democratic hopefuls looking to succeed Gov. Schwarzenegger after his reign comes to an end -- which include former governor Jerry Brown, former state controller Steve Westley, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, just to name a few -- San Francisco's very own mayor wants the title as well. more ›

535 San Francisco Unified School District teachers will receive layoff notices this morning due to state cuts in education funding. Today's pink slip handouts stem from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget '09, which will see San Francisco schools losing around $40 million. According to CBS 5, Mayor Newsom is doing what he can, even if it's a Band-Aid solution to a longterm problem. more ›

With nightclubs like Jelly's, Whisper, and 715 Harrison playing host to fatal mischief over the past few months, yesterday Mayor Newsom and Police Chief Heather Fong went on the offense against SF nightlife. Four bits of legislation, co-sponsored by Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, will be put before the board of supes: more ›

Lance Farber, the 47 year old new age chiropractor boyfriend of our new city planning director John Rahaim, who last weekend set their bed on fire and smeared crushed tomatoes all over the historic landmark apartment the city had put them up in, had a brief appearance in court today, where his bail was set at $1 million. Farber would have been in court longer, except that his attorney, noted local criminal lawyer (and Matt Gonzalez for Mayor campaign treasurer) Randy Knox, said Farber's been suffering terrible migraines ever since he set the place on fire and fled the scene. more ›

There was a press conference today at 11am with the Mayor and the head of Muni -- no major revelations, but here's the condensed Cliff's Notes version from our guy at the event: more ›

When asked for the real reason why Susan Leal was forced out as head of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission by Mayor Gavin Newsom, Susan Leal said: more ›

While not all of us are fortunate enough to zip around in swank Aston Martins, or have sleek Tesla waiting for us on the horizon, the "bus of the future" is the next best thing. Well, almost. more ›

Without providing an answer for firing San Francisco Public Utilities Commission chief Susan Leal, the SFPUC officially sacked her this morning after a nine-minute closed door City Hall meeting. As part of her severance package, she will receive a delightful $400,000. The former city treasurer was asked to pack up and get the hell out last December as part of Newsom's second-term staff cuts. more ›