Meet Kevin Mullin, Who Just Won Jackie Speier’s Longtime Congressional Seat

As Rep. Jackie Speier leaves Congress after 15 years, her Peninsula and South Bay seat has been won by her endorsed candidate and former state Senate staffer Kevin Mullin.

As some of you may realize, Nancy Pelosi is not the congressional representative for all of San Francisco. Rep. Jackie Speier has represented some parts of southwest San Francisco for years, and the new redistricted map of what is now California's 15th District keeps that dynamic pretty much in place. What will no longer be in place is Rep. Speier herself, as the survivor of a shooting at the Jonestown massacre announced last year she would be retiring at the end of this term.

Rep. Speier had endorsed state Assemblymember (and President Pro Tem) Kevin Mullin to take her place, a Democratic candidate who'd previously served as mayor of South San Francisco, and before that, had been a Speier staffer when she was in the state Senate. And NBC Bay Area reports that Mullin has won that race, beating former Daly City mayor and current San Mateo County Board of Supervisors president David Canepa.

The current numbers from the Associated Press have Mullin up by a 56%-44% margin. There are still plenty more votes to be counted. But as you see below, Canepa has already conceded the race to Mullin.

Speier seemingly handpicked Mullin, and she’s a longtime Dem congressional stalwart, so it is little surprise that Speier’s pick for her successor would succeed. She appeared by his side at points during the campaign, as well as on Tuesday night when election results rolled in.

“The bar is very high,” Mullin said Tuesday night, referring to Speier’s seat. “Tonight's results frankly are, I think, an affirmation of the peninsula’s love of the woman to my left, whose endorsement was absolutely critical to set the trajectory of this race.”

But a very big question is what Speier does now, at age 72, but seemingly still with plenty of pull and influence in the Bay Area. NBC Bay Area asked her that very question in the video below.

“I’m going to announce, at least, the next chapter, on December 3,” she said, without clarifying the significance of December 3.

Related: Bay Area Reps Jackie Speier and Barbara Lee Proudly Get Arrested at D.C. Abortion Rights Protest [SFist]

Image: Kevin Mullin for Congress