The AD-17 state Assembly seat situation seems resolved (for now), because after Matt Haney’s landslide victory Tuesday, his opponent David Campos says he won’t run in the June primary or November general elections for the seat.
We are still going to have four elections this year for the same seat with regards to the AD-17 seat vacated by David Chiu when he became SF City Attorney, and where Matt Haney won the state Assembly seat outright on Tuesday night. But not all four elections will be Matt Haney vs. David Campos. That’s because Campos told the Chronicle he’s not running for the seat again, which still has another June 7 primary, and a November 8 general election coming up this year for the coming term.
The catch? Campos’ name will still appear on the June primary ballot, because he had already filed papers to run. On top of that, the Chronicle reports “Campos’ name will likely appear on the November ballot, too, if he finishes in the top two in June — unless he asks to have it removed.
BREAKING: @DavidCamposSF won’t challenge @MattHaneySF for Assembly seat in June https://t.co/ITaTj6pVp3
— Joe Garofoli (@joegarofoli) April 22, 2022
Campos confirmed to the Chronicle via text message that “I am not running in June though the name will appear on the ballot due to timing of filing.”
Do you want to run against Haney in the June primary for his state Assembly seat? Sorry, you can’t! The filing deadline was March 11, which explains why Campos had already filed to run. So that ballot is already set, and now it's just Haney against little-known Republican candidate Bill Shireman. And only the top two primary winners can run in November, so there is no longer an opportunity for any additional candidates to jump into this race.
In terms of Campos’ next move, he had previously been chief of staff to District Attorney Chesa Boudin before taking a leave to run for the Assembly. The Chron says Campos “will take some time to recover” before deciding whether to return to that role.
In terms of what happens to Haney's current District 6 supervisor seat, Mayor London Breed gets to appoint the replacement. Haney is pushing for his chief of staff Honey Mahogany, who would be the city’s first ever transgender supervisor, and Haney told the Chronicle Mahogany is “the obvious choice and I’ve communicated that to the mayor.”
But Honey Mahogany would not likely be a loyal Breed ally, as Haney and Breed have often clashed. So I am not exactly holding my breath for London Breed to appoint anyone who would not be a loyal lockstepper for Breed’s agenda. The Chronicle also floated the names of former Assembly candidate Bilal Mahmood, Workforce Investment Board member Vikrum Aiyer, SFPD strategic communications director Matt Dorsey, and Planning Commissioner Rachel Tanner.
That appointee would then have to run for the seat on November 8 in order to keep it, and will surely face opposition in that race. Mahogany has indicated that, regardless of Breed's choice of appointee, she plans to run in November.
Image: Campaign flyers, Joe Kukura, SFist