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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrom left: The major San Francisco mayoral candidates \u2014 Ahsha Safa\u00ed, Mark Farrell, Daniel Lurie, London Breed and Aaron Peskin \u2014 debate at the Sydney Goldstein Theater on June 12.\u00a0Carlos Avila Gonzalez\/The Chronicle<\/em><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can learn a lot about a person by seeing how they interact with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why I\u2019ve always been fascinated by political campaigning \u2014 the awkwardness and egotism at play as candidates approach people they\u2019ve never met and butter them up, all while trying not to seem transactional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n San Franciscans might want the main contenders of the upcoming mayoral election\u00a0\u2014 Mayor London Breed, former supervisor and interim Mayor Mark Farrell, nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Ahsha Safa\u00ed\u00a0\u2014 to be laser-focused on substance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But personality will inevitably play a big role in the race \u2014 particularly because the candidates are all Democrats, and there isn\u2019t quite as much policy daylight between them<\/a> as the heated campaign rhetoric would suggest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why I spent more than a month trailing each of the major candidates at campaign events \u2014 to observe firsthand the type of persona they\u2019re cultivating for voters and how those voters are responding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n I began by joining Breed on a mid-May campaign tour through the streets of the Fillmore in the Western Addition \u2014 the neighborhood where she grew up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was immediately obvious that while Breed may have\u00a0dismal approval ratings<\/a>, she also has major star power. Cars honked, people called out to her from across the street and bystanders snapped pictures. Two little girls even requested her autograph, asking shyly if she were famous.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think maybe in San Francisco, but not everywhere,\u201d Breed responded, laughing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wearing a royal blue suit and an elegant white blouse, surrounded by an entourage of campaign staff and bodyguards, Breed was imposing \u2014 yet still accessible. She seemed to know everyone she passed \u2014 from an elderly woman clutching a walker with long pink nails, to a young girl who Breed said was a friend\u2019s daughter she hadn\u2019t seen in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surrounded by people who were rooting for her, Breed was confident and relaxed. She became flintier when we sat down at a cafe to chat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I asked her what it was like to run against Peskin and Farrell, who collaborated to install Farrell as interim mayor<\/a> in 2018 after Mayor Ed Lee passed away \u2014 bypassing Breed, who was then president of the Board of Supervisors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d she retorted. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones with women problems. I\u2019m not the one with man problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breed is a master at such snappy one-liners, and dropped another when I asked about the main difference between herself and her competitors. \u201cSome of them have probably never had to borrow money to pay rent a day in their life,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m happy for them \u2014 hell, I wish my mama had $1 million\u201d \u2014 a not-so-subtle dig at Lurie, whose mother, Miriam Haas, donated that amount to an independent committee supporting her son<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Lurie may be benefiting from his mom\u2019s piggy bank, but he has star power of his own, which I witnessed on a merchant walk in the Castro in late June. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wearing rainbow socks and accompanied by staff members armed with clever, if slightly cringey, signs that read \u201cDaniel Curious,\u201d Lurie was swarmed by admirers: an older Asian American woman who dragged over a friend to meet him, nail salon workers who described him as a \u201cvery handsome man,\u201d a real estate agent who excitedly shared that Lurie was his No. 1 pick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lurie\u2019s wealth has surely helped his name and face ID, but he\u2019s not an unskilled politician. Watching him chat with voters, I noted how quickly he was able to endear himself to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of offering policy prescriptions or rattling off self-promotional talking points, he listened to residents and gave them business cards so they could contact him directly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverything I heard today is how things are done to people in this city without communication,\u201d Lurie told me. \u201cWhat people should know about me is I listen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lurie\u2019s reception in the Castro was markedly different from that of Safa\u00ed, who I\u2019d accompanied on a merchant walk just the day before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Strolling the neighborhood in a gray suit and white open-necked shirt, Safa\u00ed seemed eager to prove his legislative bona fides to anyone who would listen. When some merchants complained about rampant retail theft, he was quick to defend his record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou can go back and check \u2014 I was the only one ringing the alarm about retail theft in a very aggressive way,\u201d Safa\u00ed said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Alas, these comments seemed to irritate the merchants more than impress them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other attempts to appeal to voters fell comically flat \u2014 such as when he told one immigrant shop owner that he was the only immigrant among the leading mayoral candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCongratulations,\u201d the merchant said dryly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, Safa\u00ed, who\u2019s polling behind the other candidates, seemed undeterred. \u201cI\u2019m representing a voice that I don\u2019t think is represented if I\u2019m not in the race,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, I joined the presumptive frontrunner, Farrell, as he campaigned at the Noe Valley Farmer\u2019s Market on a beautiful mid-June morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Dressed casually in dark jeans, a white button-up and tennis shoes, Farrell projected the easygoing confidence of someone used to getting what he wants. I couldn\u2019t help but picture the fraternity bros I went to college with, all grown up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m unsure if Farrell was a fraternity member himself, but it\u2019s clear he still likes to have a good time. As the San Francisco Standard recently revealed<\/a>, he appears to have used a legal loophole in his final year as supervisor to spend thousands of dollars in campaign funds at San Francisco\u2019s swankiest bars and restaurants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the market, Farrell made easy conversation with vendors and shoppers and took care to introduce his wife and children to everyone he encountered. Residents seemed to respond positively to his depiction of himself as a strong chief executive: \u201cIt\u2019s about experience, it\u2019s about competence and then a vision \u2014 who\u2019s going to be the leader.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n A big man, Farrell towers above the other candidates, which undoubtedly helps to reinforce his message of strength and stability. But a certain snazziness is sometimes missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the first mayoral debate<\/a>, Farrell inexplicably claimed that his favorite San Francisco tradition is going to Alcatraz. Contrast that with Peskin, who said that his favorite tradition is swimming <\/em>to Alcatraz \u2014 drawing laughs from the audience. (Peskin famously starts most of his mornings with a swim in the Bay.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Peskin\u2019s 25 years in city government have left him with a controversial legacy \u2014 he\u2019s a progressive hero to some and a bureaucracy-enamored NIMBY to others. But there\u2019s no denying that he\u2019s a true quirky San Francisco character. He described himself to me as \u201ca gregarious person who cares about people and about community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watching him work the room in a dark suit and patterned tie at a late June dinner in Chinatown, it was difficult not to be impressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I kept losing track of him as he bounced from table to table, shaking hands, saluting and practicing phrases in Cantonese. He seemed to know almost everyone and greeted each police officer by name. He playfully remarked to one man that a mutual acquaintance had already maxed out donations to Peskin\u2019s campaign and that he needed to catch up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As we sat down for dinner and a lion dance performance, Peskin pointed out various people to me and explained who they were and their role in the community. It was obvious that he relished being in the thick of things \u2014 being in the know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His relationships with others haven\u2019t always been so jocular. In 2021, he entered alcohol treatment<\/a> following complaints that he had for years bullied and harassed colleagues and other officials and showed up to work under the influence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Peskin said he has now been sober for three years and has managed to repair most of the affected relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing in this life or this business of politics is permanent, and then you\u2019ve gotta work together on the next thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His point about the evanescent nature of politics is apt. The mayoral campaign is still in its larval stages; a lot could change between now and November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But one thing is clear: Amid diminished faith in our political infrastructure<\/a>, people just want someone they can trust. Words, track records and even money only go so far. In such a tight race, the power of individual connection may make all the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reach Emily Hoeven: emily.hoeven@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @emily_hoeven<\/p>\n\n\n\n July 6, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Emily Hoeven<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n COLUMNIST<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emily Hoeven is an Opinion columnist at The Chronicle. She wrote CalMatters\u2019 daily WhatMatters newsletter on California politics and policy from March 2020 to January 2023. She makes frequent appearances on TV, radio, podcasts and panels, and helped launch a weekly political segment on ABC 10. Emily has reported across the West, from California to Utah to Montana, and got her start writing opinion columns for the Mercury News and the Daily Pennsylvanian. A Fremont native, Emily graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in English and French and taught English for a year in Ch\u00e2teauroux, France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/opinion\/emilyhoeven\/article\/sf-mayors-race-top-candidates-19494840.php?utm_content=cta&sid=53b8a5219dbcd4db6500018b&ss=P&st_rid=null&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_morningfix<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There isn\u2019t much policy daylight between London Breed, Daniel Lurie, Mark Farrell, Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safa\u00ed. Personality will inevitably play a big role By\u00a0Emily Hoeven,Columnist July 6, 2024 (SFChronicle.com) From left: The major San Francisco mayoral candidates \u2014 Ahsha Safa\u00ed, Mark Farrell, Daniel Lurie, London Breed and Aaron Peskin… Continue reading More Opinions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Newsom wants California to be a bastion of democracy. Except where Prop 47 is concerned<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Gavin Newsom is mentally checking himself out of California and into the White House<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n