In a heated (read: lots of mailers) race for the District 11 State Senate seat currently occupied by Mark Leno, who is due to be termed-out, two Democratic San Francisco Supervisors — Scott Wiener and Jane Kim — edged out Republican Kenneth Loo to face off against one another this November. (Read: Expect more fucking mailers.)
The Examiner puts the difference between them at just 2,800 votes, a lead of 1.65 percent held by Wiener. Bay City News records the tally, via ABC7, as around 46.1 precent for Wiener and 44.4 percent for Kim (with 594 of 645 precinct results in as of publication time). Wiener's narrow lead was wider in early returns, at one point a gap of 11 percent, and in San Mateo he led more clearly with 46.43 percent of the vote over Kim's 37.33 percent.
Bay City News calls Scott Wiener the "widely viewed... favorite to win." Closer to the center than Kim, Wiener got into the race first and secured key endorsements from mainstream Democrats.
Heading to election night party with the boys! #Wiener2016 pic.twitter.com/R9yPSsSbs0
— Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) June 8, 2016
Thank you voters for supporting my candidacy - honored to come in 1st place in the primary. Onward to November & victory. #Wiener2016
— Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) June 8, 2016
Mayor Ed Lee just arrived at Scott Wiener's election party for senate #sfelections pic.twitter.com/KeoxNSJCTP
— Michael Barba (@mdbarba) June 8, 2016
Jane Kim, for her part, claimed the endorsement of Bernie Sanders: The two were seen palling around Chinatown days ago.
"Here in San Francisco progressives have always won." @JaneKim #SFElections pic.twitter.com/zpJ5junmqZ
— Audrey Garces (@AudreyGarces) June 8, 2016
As far as real policy differences, Kim was first among the Supervisors to call for the resignation of Chief Suhr, whom Wiener appeared to defend. Wiener is sightly softer on Airbnb, having received, in a donations haul that between the two candidates was more than $2 million dollars so far, a small sum from Airbnb's CEO.
Neither really liked the Super Bowl, though Kim was more vocal about the event while Wiener focused his attacks on the safety problems posed by tent cities. Further, Wiener has made a name for himself as a public transit junkie, campaigning for more and better transit options.
Approaching November as the "top-two" candidate in the open primary system for statewide offices, the candidates will likely draw further, more substantive distinctions between themselves. Namely: Who can send more mailers and, eventually, get more votes.
Related: Wiener vs. Kim Already Most Expensive District 11 State Senate Race Ever