Dean Preston was sworn in Monday night at 5 p.m., becoming the first Democratic Socialist on the Board of Supervisors since Harry Britt’s appointment in 1979.

There were really only two contested offices in this past November’s election, the District Attorney race and the battle for the District 5 supervisor seat. Both close contests took days to determine the actual winner, and both were won by the Bernie-friendly, self-identified Democratic Socialist candidate. But while new District Attorney Chesa Boudin won’t be sworn in until early January, the San Francisco Examiner reports that Dean Preston was sworn in Monday night at City Hall, and will immediately begin his voting tenure at Tuesday afternoon’s full Board of Supervisors meeting.

As is his wont, Tom Ammiano stole the show when handling the swearing-in ceremony. "As Mayor of Emerald City, I now pronounce us man and wife," Ammiano declared, setting off thunderous applause throughout the board chamber.

Preston is best known for authoring the 2018 “No Eviction Without Representation” measure Prop. F, for coming within a hair’s breadth of beating London Breed for that supervisor’s seat in 2016, and of course for beating Vallie Brown under the ascendant Democratic Socialist label.  “This movement is not new, though its access to power at city hall may be increasing today,” Preston said in a statement to the Examiner. “It is the continuation of social movements alive and well in the streets of San Francisco for generations. The organizing work of communities of color, of women, of tenants, of workers, of artists, of neighborhood activists, that have created the tapestry that is San Francisco.”

So excited to go to City Hall with this amazing team!

Posted by Dean Preston on Thursday, December 12, 2019

If you care about staff, 48 Hills notes that Preston’s team of legislative aides will include current Sup. Rafael Mandelman staffer Kyle Smeallie, former David Campos campaign aide Avery Yu, and Preston’s 2019 campaign manager Jen Snyder.  

“We are going to be your friendly neighborhood socialists,” Snyder told 48 Hills, after last having been seen flipping a friendly middle finger at the San Francisco Democratic Party leadership after they declined to endorse Preston.

They’ll have to be friendly, because Preston has to run for the same seat again in less than ten months. He already has one challenger in community organizer Daniel Landry, and seasoned City Hall watchers expect Vallie Brown to run again too. Mayor Breed fanned that speculation at last week’s board meeting. where 48 Hills also reports that Breed said to Brown, “This may not be your last board meeting – there’s an election next year.”

Related: District 5 Race Capturing Little Attention, But Has Huge Implications [SFist]

Top image: Aaron Peskin via Twitter