In addition to the two bigger primary fights on the ballot today in San Francisco, for governor and for Nancy Pelosi's Congressional seat, two moderate incumbent SF supervisors are fighting to hold on to their seats.

There are special elections today in Districts 2 and 4, where two mayoral appointees — one appointed by London Breed on her way out the door, and one appointed recently by Daniel Lurie following a gaffe over a different appointee — are hoping to stay on the board through the end of the year. (Both special elections are just to complete their predecessors' previous terms, and they'll be back on the ballot again in November to compete for full four-year terms.)

In District 2, Supervisor Stephen Sherrill hopes that some recent bad press relating to his appointment doesn't give a boost to a more progressive challenger, neighborhood activist Lori Brooke. Brooke has been the most vocally opposed to the controversial, 25-story proposed residential project on the Marina Safeway property — something that fits into Mayor Daniel Lurie's upzoning plan, but the scale of which is objectionable to many neighbors.

Lurie has spoken out against the specific design of the proposed project, and Sherrill has done the same, but both have tried to be careful not to anger the YIMBY crowd by dismissing the redevelopment proposal outright.

Supervisoral elections can swing by tiny margins of votes, particularly in low-turnout special elections like this one looks likely to be. So the recent revelations by former aides alleging that former Mayor London Breed only gave Sherrill the job in December 2024 as a favor to Michael Bloomberg — who in turn, allegedly, was supposed to set her up with a gig — could cost Sherrill just enough votes to matter. And just two weeks ago there were anonymous reports that the FBI was "making inquiries" into the matter, so there still could be more to come on that front.

Sherrill, while being a Breed appointee, has become a strong ally of Lurie, and is part of the currently dominant moderate bloc on the Board of Supervisors that includes supervisors Bilal Mahmood, Danny Sauter, Matt Dorsey, and often Myrna Melgar, Rafael Mandelman, and Chyanne Chen.

Also part of that bloc is District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong, whom Lurie appointed last fall following the embarassing kerfuffle over his first pick, Beya Alcaraz, who resigned after just seven days.

Wong, who is a vocal opponent of the closure of the Great Highway to create Sunset Dunes Park, is likely to benefit from the small margins of a special election like this, given the ongoing fervor among those in the district who hate the highway was closed. They are likely to get out the vote on this issue alone, even if a second citywide ballot measure on the closure is not likely to go their way, if it even qualifies for the November ballot.

Running against Wong with quite a bit of financial support behind her is progressive candidate Natalie Gee, who has neighborhood cred having attended Lowell High School and SF State and has worked in City Hall. Gee has not one but two of the top-spending independent committees backing her campaign, which together have spent nearly $700K.

And Gee also supports the part-time reopening of the Great Highway on weekdays, and she backs the November ballot measure that would codify this.

Should both Brooke and Gee prevail in today's election, the balance of power could shift on the Board of Supervisors back in the direction of progressives — or it would, at least, level the playing field.

The former progressive bloc on the board, which included Aaron Peskin, Connie Chan, Shamann Walton, Dean Preston, and Hillary Ronen was diminished when Peskin and Preston were both replaced by moderate-backed candidates Danny Sauter and Bilal Mahmood in 2024. Ronen, who was termed out, was replaced by the even more progressive Jackie Fielder representing the Mission District and Bernal Heights.

Up until 2024, progressives had enjoyed a solid majority on the board for many years, as the Chronicle documented last fall. These days, they need to rely on supervisors Melgar, Mandelman, and Chen who only sometimes vote with them, to get legislation passed.

Depending on how today goes, that could noticeably change.

Previously: Allegations Resurface That Supervisor Sherrill Got Appointed In Backroom Deal to Benefit London Breed