Last SF Supervisor Race Finally Called — Progressive Democrat Connie Chan Wins

UPDATE, 11/8/2020 6 p.m.: While the United States presidential race has been called since Saturday, San Francisco’s last open race finally came to a conclusion Sunday.

San Francisco District 1 supervisor candidate Marjan Philhour conceded her race against candidate Connie Chan Sunday evening, ending a neck-and-neck race that saw the two trading leading positions in early counts. District 1 encompasses San Francisco’s Richmond District neighborhood, between Golden Gate Park and the Presidio.

Philhour, who conceded the race Sunday night, was a senior advisor to Mayor London Breed and who counts her as a close ally. Philhour is a moderate Democrat who may have tipped the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in favor of the mayor’s policies if she had won. The progressives enjoy a supermajority on the eleven-member board which is already tenuous.

Chan — a progressive Democrat who worked for then-District Attorney, now Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and also Supervisor Aaron Peskin — declared victory Sunday night exclusively to KQED. She led Philhour by a mere 123 votes as of Sunday’s count.

“We always knew that this was going to be an incredibly close race,” Chan told KQED. But, she said “we’re ready to call (the race) tomorrow.”

Chan said her first priority as supervisor will be affordability for Richmond District residents and San Francisco at large.

“We see that it’s critical for both residential tenants, and for commercial tenants like small businesses to stay open. So the eviction moratorium will be key,” she said.

Maintaining city services during a tight budget crunch, improving public transit access, and affordable housing are “things that we need to tackle immediately.”

The District 1 supervisor race was the last race to be called in San Francisco’s supervisorial elections. Progressive supervisors largely prevailed in those races, except in District 11, where moderate Democrat and incumbent Supervisor Ahsha Safai beat out progressive Democrat candidate John Avalos.

And Breed did gain one new ally on the Board of Supervisors in District 7, where a progressive Democrat who counts both progressives and  Breed as allies, Supervisor-elect Myrna Melgar, prevailed

The original story follows.

Progressive Democrat Connie Chan pulled ahead in a nail-biter San Francisco supervisor election, Saturday afternoon.

It’s the last election remaining uncalled in San Francisco, as city progressives mostly prevailed in four out of five Board of Supervisor races this November.

Chan and her closest rival, moderate Democrat Marjan Philhour, have been locked in a close race to represent the city’s Richmond District on the Board of Supervisors since the first results were announced Tuesday.

Their respective leads have been slim, in the dozens of votes.

Chan led Philhour by 107 votes, Friday, making Saturday’s count a difference of only 40 votes.

Philhour is the former senior advisor to Mayor London Breed, and Chan has worked for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in her time as San Francisco District Attorney, as well as for Supervisor Aaron Peskin.

There are still 10,000 more citywide votes in San Francisco to be counted, according to the Department of Elections.

When asked if Chan was prepared to declare victory, her campaign said, in a statement, “We’re in a strong position after today’s results. We thank and respect the Richmond District voters. Every vote counts and every vote needs to be counted. We look forward to those results.”

— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitztheReporter)