{"id":21509,"date":"2022-02-20T13:00:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-20T21:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=21509"},"modified":"2022-02-20T13:00:58","modified_gmt":"2022-02-20T21:00:58","slug":"two-liberal-san-francisco-politicians-are-locked-into-the-assembly-race-heres-what-will-separate-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2022\/02\/20\/two-liberal-san-francisco-politicians-are-locked-into-the-assembly-race-heres-what-will-separate-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Two liberal San Francisco politicians are locked into the Assembly race. Here\u2019s what will separate them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/author\/joe-garofoli\/\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/author\/joe-garofoli\/\" target=\"_blank\">Joe Garofoli<\/a>  Feb. 20, 2022<font color=\"#007fac\">  (SFChronicle.com)<\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.hdnux.com\/photos\/01\/24\/20\/36\/22087597\/3\/1200x0.jpg\" alt=\"(Left) San Francisco District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney rides a cable car bus to get out the vote on Election Day in San Francisco; (Right) David Campos gives a speech to a crowd of supporters at his election night party inside SF Eagle.\"\/><figcaption>(Left) San Francisco District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney rides a cable car bus to get out the vote on Election Day in San Francisco; (Right) David Campos gives a speech to a crowd of supporters at his election night party inside SF Eagle.Jessica Christian\/The Chronicle; Santiago Mejia\/The Chronicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When either David Campos or Matt Haney arrives in Sacramento as the next 17th Assembly District member representing San Francisco later this spring, many of their colleagues will look at them for what they are: another left-leaning legislator from San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But until the April 19 runoff election that decides who goes to Sacramento, many San Francisco voters will be parsing dozens of other factors important in the diverse, politically hyperaware district in the eastern side of the city. That is why the two men will claw for every vote \u2014 and often at each other \u2014 in what is likely to be another close, low-turnout, off-the-traditional election calendar election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How close? Only 887 votes separated the two men, who emerged from a field of four candidates in Tuesday\u2019s election,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfelections.sfgov.org\/february-15-2022-election-results-summary\">according to ballots<\/a>&nbsp;counted through Friday. Haney held the edge, garnering a little under 37% of the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is going to feel more like a local race than a state-level race,\u201d said Jason McDaniel, a professor at San Francisco State University who closely watches local elections. \u201cElections are rarely about one issue. While housing may take center stage, it\u2019s going to be about a lot of other issues as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/What-conservatives-are-getting-wrong-about-the-16924985.php\">What conservatives are getting wrong about the San Francisco school board recall<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/Should-Chesa-Boudin-be-worried-about-the-school-16922441.php\">Should Chesa Boudin be worried about the school board recall results?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It will be a race that will split racial and ethnic blocs and the LGBTQ community, too. And of course Democrats, since nearly three in four city residents are registered as one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campos, a native of Guatemala who Equality California says would be the first LGBTQ immigrant in the Legislature, sees the choice as a larger, philosophical one. The main difference between the two, Campos said, is that he is not accepting corporate contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe see politicians running for office promising all of these things \u2014 including Medicare for All \u2014 and yet it hasn\u2019t happened,\u201d Campos, 51, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, told me. Politicians say, \u201c\u2018We\u2019re for this change\u2019 as they take money from the very people that are against that change. And you know what happens when they\u2019re elected? The change doesn\u2019t happen. They vote against it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Haney, 39, a current supervisor, pointed out that Campos is the vice chair of the California Democratic Party \u2014 which hasn\u2019t been shy about raking in corporate donations. Then again, neither has Haney\u2019s campaign or the independent expenditure committee supporting him. Haney said he is not accepting corporate political action campaign contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am not a king of any party,\u201d Campos replied. \u201cI\u2019m a Democrat and we have a lot of voices in the Democratic Party.\u201d On Sunday, the state party\u2019s executive committee will decide whether&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/California-Democrats-defer-proposal-to-ban-16560347.php\">to accept contributions from fossil fuel<\/a>&nbsp;companies and law enforcement organizations. Campos opposes accepting contributions from either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Haney countered that \u201cevery every other word out of his mouth is \u2018corporation.\u2019 And I think he\u2019s a lot less focused on the the actual needs and experiences that people have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some of the many factors to watch as the campaign unfolds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Housing on the ballot:&nbsp;<\/strong>Haney \u2014 and the independent expenditure groups supporting him \u2014 will pound Campos for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/Supes-reject-proposed-building-moratorium-in-6303325.php\">his 2015 proposal,<\/a>&nbsp;when he as a supervisor, to create a moratorium on the construction of market-rate housing in the Mission District. (The board rejected it.) It\u2019s a sign of Campos\u2019 inflexible attitude on how to dig out of the housing crisis, Haney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campos said the moratorium proposal came from his constituents, and he was representing their wishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf I had to do it, again, I wouldn\u2019t do it,\u201d Campos said. \u201cWe need housing of all types, including market-rate housing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After Tuesday\u2019s election, YIMBY Action, one of San Francisco\u2019s \u2014 and the nation\u2019s \u2014 loudest advocates for building housing everywhere, announced it was endorsing Haney. In the primary, it endorsed political newcomer Bilal Mahmood, saying that it was skeptical of Haney\u2019s \u201cmixed record\u201d on housing. What\u2019s changed, other than the group trusts Haney way more than Campos?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhenever someone evolves on an issue, you want to make sure that they stay true to that, but we\u2019re feeling much more hopeful about (Haney\u2019s) commitment,\u201d YIMBY Action\u2019s Laura Foote told me. \u201c(Haney) didn\u2019t get the endorsement and then during his speech at his victory party (Tuesday night), he\u2019s talking about the need to build more housing. That\u2019s pretty committed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Chesa Boudin factor:<\/strong>&nbsp;The nationally watched June 7 recall election of San Francisco\u2019s controversial District Attorney Chesa Boudin will be heating up at the same time as the Assembly race is in gear. Mentioning Boudin will be a calculated risk for both candidates, McDaniel said. Campos is on leave as Boudin\u2019s chief of staff while he runs for Assembly. Whoever wins the special election in April will have to turn around and run for a new term in the June primary and November general election, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If Haney pushes too hard on the Boudin connection, he may alienate the progressives who support the district attorney. Campos may rev up progressives if he links arms tightly with Boudin, but doing so may drain support from moderates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA lot of progressives do well in the city when they could run against an \u2018establishment moderate candidate,\u2019\u201d McDaniel said. Haney has done \u201ca good job\u201d so far in appealing to both progressives and more centrist voters who have backed San Francisco Mayor London Breed, he said, \u201cbut it\u2019s a delicate dance he\u2019s trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Haney\u2019s progressive two-step can be a bit clumsy. Haney, who opposes the Boudin recall, told me, \u201cI don\u2019t have any plans to make the district attorney part of this race, myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moments later in our conversation, he did. Haney pointed out that in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/voterguide.sfelections.org\/en\/candidate-state-assembly-district-17\">his official ballot statement,<\/a>&nbsp;Campos did not state that he is on leave from his job as Boudin\u2019s chief of staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI mean, that\u2019s very strange,\u201d Haney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campos replied that \u201cthe supervisor from the Tenderloin is going to say a lot of things about me between now and April 19.\u201d Campos stood by his work with Boudin, saying that he is \u201cproud of the fact that we have been pushing for reform in the criminal justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Whose Tenderloin is it:<\/strong>&nbsp;Campos regularly refers to Haney as \u201cthe supervisor from the Tenderloin,\u201d a neighborhood that has become nationally known for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/projects\/2022\/sf-fentanyl-opioid-epidemic\/\">being ridden with crime, drug abuse and homelessness<\/a>. Campos points out that \u201cthings got so bad in this neighborhood under his watch\u201d that in December, Breed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/sf\/article\/Is-the-Tenderloin-healing-This-is-what-16811218.php\">declared a 90-day state of emergency<\/a>&nbsp;in the Tenderloin, promising to ramp up policing in the area and crack down on drug dealers and users there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf you are happy with what he has done in the Tenderloin, then you probably should vote for him,\u201d Campos said. \u201cBut if you believe that what is happening in the Tenderloin is unacceptable, then I hope that you will consider looking at us because we need change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Haney said Campos\u2019 moniker for him is \u201ca very cynical thing for him to do\u201d and \u201che\u2019s sort of playing on people\u2019s fears.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA huge part of why I\u2019m running is because we need more statewide leadership\u201d on the issues that have long plagued the neighborhood, Haney said, noting that he\u2019s done much to bring more resources to the neighborhood. He also noted that he represents a \u201cvery large district\u201d that includes more well-to-do neighborhoods like South Beach, Mission Bay and Rincon Hill. Quipped Haney: \u201cHe\u2019s not calling me the South Beach supervisor or the Mission Bay supervisor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Getting along with others:&nbsp;<\/strong>Campos and Haney both support single-payer health care. Haney said he was disappointed that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/Single-payer-health-care-is-dead-in-California-16827355.php\">after single-payer legislation died<\/a>&nbsp;last month in the Legislature, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DavidCamposSF\/status\/1488359674692849668\">Campos tweeted<\/a>&nbsp;that he wished the bill\u2019s author,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/megaphone.link\/SFO7881779162\">Assembly Member Ash Kalra,<\/a>&nbsp;D-San Jose,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.matthaney.com\/endorsements#endorsements\">a Haney endorser,&nbsp;<\/a>had called for a vote so that every legislator would be on the record for where they stood on the proposal. Campos said he was \u201crespectfully\u201d pointing out \u201cthat (Kalra) was wrong not to seek a vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Haney saw it as Campos not being a good team player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s talking a lot about Medicare for All, yet he\u2019s attacking the author,\u201d Haney said. \u201cI think that is a sign for a lot of people in Sacramento of how ineffective he would be a legislator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Campos countered that it\u2019s hard to say he isn\u2019t collegial when he\u2019s been chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and vice chair of the California Democratic Party. Campos is endorsed by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/camposforus.com\/endorsements\/\">six of Haney\u2019s colleagues<\/a>&nbsp;on the 11-member Board of Supervisors. Haney is backed&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.matthaney.com\/endorsements#endorsements\">by two<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf you want to know how well I work with people just ask Matt Haney\u2019s colleagues \u2014 a majority are supporting me,\u201d Campos said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Who hasn\u2019t endorsed yet:<\/strong>&nbsp;Some key endorsers haven\u2019t weighed in yet. State Sen. Scott Wiener told me, \u201cI\u2019m neutral in this race.\u201d City Attorney David Chiu, who held the Assembly seat before Breed appointed him to his current role, told me, \u201cI have no plans to endorse at this time.\u201d San Francisco\u2019s other state legislator, Assembly Member&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/camposforus.com\/endorsements\/\">Phil Ting, is backing Campos<\/a>. The third-place finisher in Tuesday\u2019s election, Bilal Mahmood, told me, \u201cI have not yet decided who to endorse.\u201d Neither has fourth-place finisher Thea Selby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Breed hasn\u2019t made an endorsement, but her spokesman confirmed there remains a possibility she will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a close, hard-fought local election, any edge would help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle\u2019s senior political writer. Email:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com\">jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com<\/a>\u00a0Twitter:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joegarofoli\">@joegarofoli<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joe Garofoli is the San Francisco Chronicle&#8217;s senior political writer, covering national and state politics. He has worked at The Chronicle since 2000 and in Bay Area journalism since 1992, when he left the Milwaukee Journal. He is the host of &#8220;It&#8217;s All Political,&#8221; The Chronicle&#8217;s political podcast. Catch it here:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He has won numerous awards and covered everything from fashion to the Jeffrey Dahmer serial killings to two Olympic Games to his own vasectomy &#8211; which he discussed on NPR&#8217;s &#8220;Talk of the Nation&#8221; after being told he couldn&#8217;t say the word &#8220;balls&#8221; on the air. He regularly appears on Bay Area radio and TV talking politics and is available to entertain at bar mitzvahs and First Communions. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and a proud native of Pittsburgh. Go Steelers!VIEW COMMENTSTop of the News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/img\/logos\/black\/logo.svg\" alt=\"newspaper's home\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/img\/core\/hearst_newspapers_logo.svg\" alt=\"HEARST newspapers logo\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a92022 Hearst<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joe Garofoli Feb. 20, 2022 (SFChronicle.com) When either David Campos or Matt Haney arrives in Sacramento as the next 17th Assembly District member representing San Francisco later this spring, many of their colleagues will look at them for what they are: another left-leaning legislator from San Francisco. But until the&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2022\/02\/20\/two-liberal-san-francisco-politicians-are-locked-into-the-assembly-race-heres-what-will-separate-them\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21510,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21509\/revisions\/21510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}