SF Mayor Daniel Lurie made the unusual move to endorse Supervisor Stephen Sherrill seven months before the election, a gesture he has made to no other supervisors, and perhaps a canary in the coal mine regarding Sherrill’s chances.
One of SF Mayor Daniel Lurie’s political superpowers in his time in office has been his ability to convert London Breed’s most faithful suck-ups into diehard Daniel Lurie suck-ups, a feat he achieved almost overnight after being elected. Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Matt Dorsey, and longtime Breed ally state Senator Scott Wiener, have instantly sworn their swords to House Lurie on nearly all policy matters. And the London Breed appointee, District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, has pretty much done the same without exception.
In many ways, Lurie and Sherrill’s partnership makes sense. Lurie was born into phenomenal wealth, Sherrill was a Yale guy and a staffer for the phenomenally wealthy former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (and then went into private equity). People in the Top 1% tax bracket tend to see the world in similar ways.
And now the Chronicle reports that Lurie just endorsed Sherrill for his June 2026 reelection. That alone seems predictable. Except it’s unusual, as Lurie has not endorsed any other candidates up for election in 2026, and may indicate some concern over whether the NYC transplant Sherrill has enough appeal to win the election.
“Stephen Sherrill is exactly the kind of leader District 2 needs to continue the progress we are making across San Francisco,” Lurie said in a press release announcing the endorsement. “We have a shared commitment to making our streets safer, our businesses stronger, and our neighborhoods a place for all families to thrive. I am proud to endorse Stephen for District 2 Supervisor and look forward to continuing our work together delivering real results for our city.”
You cannot help but notice the timing that this endorsement comes right on the heels of Sherrill helping pass Lurie’s “family zoning” measure, and then the announcement of a shockingly large Marina Safeway apartment tower just days later. Both of these developments may prove very unpopular with District 2 voters.
Yes, Lurie and Sherrill are both on record as opposing the Marina Safeway project. But since they were both behind the upzoning, it would be pretty easy for any skilled political candidate to broad-brush them as the rich guys who “upzoned the Marina a lot more than any of us wanted.”
And there is already one skilled political candidate lined up to do that.
Neighborhoods United SF co-founder Lori Brooke certainly has better local bona fides than Sherrill, she's announced she's running against him, and her group is planning to sue over Lurie’s upzoning plans.
“The recently approved upzoning is not real planning,” Brooke told the Examiner just yesterday. “It dramatically changes our neighborhoods without adding any infrastructure requirements to accommodate this growth. San Francisco needs a smarter, more balanced approach that actually produces housing that is affordable for San Franciscans while respecting the neighborhood scale, small businesses, and our existing residents.”
Because Sherrill was appointed and not elected, he will face reelection (and Lori Brooke) on the June 2, 2026 primary election, not the November election. But whoever wins that election then has to run again in the November 3, 2025 general election.
Related: Sup. Sherrill Wants to Make It Easier for Movie Theaters to Serve Booze [SFist]
Image: Stephen Sherrill via Facebook
