There is only one supervisor’s seat up for grabs in this November’s San Francisco elections.
The District 5 race between sitting incumbent Vallie Brown and challenger Dean Preston has hardly been a barn burner. Both candidates who have run clean and policy-based campaigns, attract almost entirely small contributions of $500 or less, and neither exhibits the sort of partisan chicanery associated with the polar ends of the Board of Supervisors’ moderate and progressive wings. These are just two longtime neighborhood activists and civil servants who don’t play many histrionic games, and as such, their race has failed to capture citywide attention.
But the Chronicle took a deep look at the Brown-Preston District 5 race, and notes that the race isn’t necessarily a referendum on Breed, but will determine how much power she has in the years to come.
Incumbent Vallie Brown was personally anointed District 5 supervisor by London Breed, and a victory for her would not really hand Breed any more influence — after all, she already has the seat now. Her signature issues are housing an homelessness (Brown lived in an RV as a teenager), but some constituents find her solutions too status quo.
“Her major achievements are conservatorship and the RV Navigation Center — but that’s 35 people served annually,” Booksmith owner Christin Evans told the Chronicle.
Preston’s campaign created the only remote whiff of controversy in this entire race when campaign manager gave the finger to the San Francisco Democratic Party when they declined to endorse him. He favors free Muni for all and has called for 10,000 more affordable housing units in the next ten years.
“We are shooting for big things, but those things are totally obtainable,” he told the Chron.
Mayor Breed will be re-elected in a ridiculous landslide, as she’s essentially running unopposed. Whether her agenda will be opposed at the supervisor level will be determined, in large part, bu this race.
Related: Supervisors Put Off Proposed Homelessness Commission [SFist]
Images: Candidates' Twitter pages
