This mayoral debate is going to be big, with a 99% chance of people heckling the stage. Why? Because Mayor Ed Lee, who announced today his intentions to run for full term, will appear at his first-ever mayoral forum. Hosted by the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association (DTNA) and the Castro/Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association (EVNA), Lee will appear alongside such competitors as Michela Alioto-Pier, Supervisor John Avalos, Board President David Chiu, Bevan Dufty, Tony Hall, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Joanna Rees, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and Senator Leland Yee.
Ed Lee showing up as a candidate for the first time will prove a must-see for wonks, City Hall coattail riders, political scribes, and even the mildly interested. SFist asked Beth Spotswood, SFGate columnist and Necessary Conversation host, to give us her input on this evening's forum. "Tonight will be the San Francisco political version of The Real Housewives of New York reunion, only with more tension and less stretch satin," she explained.
Lee, as you might recall, claimed he had nothing to do with an exceptionally bogus grassroots campaign ("Run, Ed, Run") that tried to convince citizens that a) Lee had no intentions of running for full term, and b) San Franciscans young and old, fat and thin, black and white were clamoring, dying for the interim leader to run for mayor. The misleading campaign was financially backed by an organization called "Progress for All" who hired Left Coast Communications to run the effort.
Check out tonight's Mayoral Candidates Forum at the Castro Theatre from 7-9:30 p.m.