SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – It looks like there is no majority in the race for state assembly, setting up a runoff election for the seat April 19.
If preliminary numbers released by the city’s elections department late Tuesday hold, then the runoff will be between Matt Haney and David Campos, who are the two leading candidates at 37.3% and 35.4% of the vote respectively.
Assembly District 17 covers three-fifths of the City and County of San Francisco, including downtown and south of Market. David Chiu had represented the district until October, when he resigned to become San Francisco City Attorney. Since that time the seat has been vacant.
Campos sent a statement to KRON4 early Wednesday pledging to continue his fight for “Medicare for All, a Green New Deal and a true living wage.”
“We are proud of our corporate free campaign that works for the people, not the corporations,” Campos stated. “We have heard too many false promises from politicians who tell us what we want to hear during campaigns and then vote with the donors who fund their campaigns when they get to the state capitol. Not this time.”
Haney stated to KRON4 that “we feel good about yesterday’s results and I am very grateful for the support from voters.”
“We ran a positive inclusive campaign focused on delivering for San Francisco on the toughest challenges,” Haney stated. “We brought together a huge coalition of supporters from every neighborhood and community in the city. I’ll be ready to build on that and work to earn every vote in April.”
He said his campaign will continue to focus on the need for housing as well as innovative solutions to homelessness, climate change and health care.
There were four candidates in Tuesday’s race: Haney, who represents south of Market and the Tenderloin on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; Campos, a former supervisor and former chair of the city’s Democratic Party who currently works as chief of staff for District Attorney Chesa Boudin; Thea Selby, who is on the San Francisco community college board; and Bilal Mahmood, who is a former Obama administration official.
Selby won 5.9% of the vote, and Mahmood won 21.1%, according to the preliminary results.
Selby told KRON4 that she’s looking forward to “working with the winner of the next round to make a better San Francisco.”
“I’m so thankful to all the District 17 voters whom I met on the campaign trail,” Selby said. “We have a lot to work on for education and transit.”
Voters citywide also got to vote on a recall of three members of the city’s school board, which they approved of by large margins, with the least successful recall effort still earning 72% of the vote, according to the preliminary results.
Finally, sitting Assessor-Recorder Joaquín Torres won 99.94% of the votes in that race, with activist Michael Petrelis winning 0.06% as a write-in candidate.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.