Setting the political stage for a contest more than a year and a half away, Muni-loving, nudity-banning District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener has announced his candidacy for State Senate.
The Democrat just unveiled a new website accompanied by his first campaign video to court the seat currently held by Mark Leno. Wiener has already secured endorsements from Leno, state Attorney General Kamala Harris, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, and Board of Supervisors President London Breed, among others.
During his tenure on the Board of Supervisors, which began in 2010, Wiener has pushed for increased transportation funding and an expanded police force. Most recently he opposed a failed moratorium on market-rate housing in the Mission District. As a gay man, he's revealed he takes Truvada, a medication to prevent the contraction of HIV. But according to the Chronicle's political calculus, Wiener doesn't even have the gay vote locked down. This being San Francisco politics, his potential opponents include gay politicians like Supervisor David Campos and former assemblyman Tom Ammiano. Other possibilities include Supervisor Jane Kim, though it's expected that she and Campos might not run if Ammiano does, with the Chronicle calling him the "standard-bearer of the city’s left" and predicting for him a considerable advantage.
First up is a primary that takes place in June, from which the top two candidates advance to the November election.
But while we speculate as to his opponents, Supervisor Wiener is charging ahead. As the Bay Area Reporter notes, he's got twelve unions, including police and fire fighters on his side, along with support from his former boss City Attorney Dennis Herrera and District Attorney George Gascon.
“There is a little bit of a parlor game going on in San Francisco right now,” political consultant Eric Jaye said. “[I]t will be a tight race,” no matter which progressives are actively bidding for the seat.
