We're still a long way from November 2019, when San Francisco will be deciding on its next mayor. We know that former SF supervisor and state senator Mark Leno is in the running, but apart from a few randoms the rest of the cast of characters remains to be confirmed. But today we bring you a new one and she's pretty new to the city too. Enter 21-year-old Mehak Vohra, the CEO and founder of a digital marketing agency called Jamocha Media, who is nothing if not energetic and good at self-promotion in our look-at-me era. As she tells The Examiner via email, "I understand the odds are not in my favor, but regardless of whether I win or lose, I want to bring awareness to the important issues and give a voice to the next generation in San Francisco."
As for her thoughts on fellow candidate Mark Leno, she may as well have said "I don't really know who he is but he sounds old." But instead she said, "I really look up to Mark Leno. [But] I’m trying to offer an alternative younger view for the next generation. My goal is to encourage younger people to make it out to the polls, and get involved with the community."
Vohra dropped out of Purdue University last year to move to Noe Valley and follow in the footsteps of other founders who have flocked here for the latest tech gold rush. She has a YouTube channel (because of course), and she likes to rap. Below you can hear her Kendrick Lamar parody that is straight out of the parody show Silicon Valley in its effort to convince the world that she's got "startups in [her] DNA." (She's says it's "a joke" and I'm totally sure she is not going to be deeply embarrassed by this in five years!)
And on the self-awareness tip, note the video above where she's attempting to show her vlog fans "what a Silicon Valley meeting looks like" she says that back on the Purdue campus, she was apparently well known for her constant vlogging, but here in SF she gets "weird looks" while doing it.
Vohra has already gotten herself named one of "ten Gen Z experts to watch" by Forbes, which apparently means she knows how to Snapchat and says "dope" a lot.
Perhaps Vohra is just the kind of fresh voice the young tech world wants to see in charge of this city, even though she totally isn't from here and has maybe a year's worth of SF-specific knowledge of the issues and politics herein, from the perspective of a 21-year-old who appears to be living in some communal situation in Noe Valley.
Oh, but she totally respects Ed Lee by the way. She just says, "As involved as he is with making The City better, I find it troubling that a good amount of my friends don’t know who he is."
Maybe because they have also only been here a year? Just sayin.
Previously: Why Is Mark Leno Entering The Mayor's Race So Early, And Where's Ed Lee Been Lately?