“Over the last six years, we have seen her commitment to housing abundance. It doesn’t mean everything has gone 100% how we would all like every time, but Breed has been side-by-side with us advancing pro-housing legislation and housing reforms,” said Jane Natoli, San Francisco organizing director for YIMBY Action. “At the end of the day, that experience was key.”
Natoli pointed to Breed’s support of legislation like Senate Bill 423, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, which created an expedited review path for housing projects at low- and market-rate income levels in cities that fail to meet state housing goals. San Francisco became the first city subject to SB 423’s expedited reviews after state housing officials ruled last week that it was short of its goal to plan for 82,000 new units by 2031.
Breed is “proud to stand with the organizations and leaders that have fought for pro-housing policies at the state and local level,” said Joe Arellano, the mayor’s campaign spokesman. “Other candidates like Mark Farrell and Ahsha Safaí are standing with groups that have opposed pro-housing measures like Prop. D and opposed modular housing that would reduce costs and build housing faster.”
Breed also secured endorsements from the Housing Action Coalition, a political nonprofit that advocates for housing production at all income levels, and the Basic Crafts Alliance, which includes the Nor Cal Carpenters Union, the Northern California District Council of Laborers, and the Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3.
But the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, a group of 27 unions that endorsed Breed in 2019, said it would support Mark Farrell, a former supervisor and interim mayor campaigning to the right of Breed, and sitting Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, who is positioning himself to her left.
San Francisco has a ranked-choice voting system, meaning a voter can select and rank up to 10 candidates in order of preference, which leads some groups to make multiple endorsements.
Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy, one of several big-money political advocacy groups that have spent millions on moderate Democratic causes in the city, recently announced it is endorsing Farrell and Daniel Lurie, a philanthropist and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, and recommending Breed as a third-choice candidate. Conservative billionaire William Oberndorf, who has donated to several Republican campaigns, is one of Neighbors’ key funders.
YIMBY Action did not endorse a second or third-choice candidate.
“Right now, Breed is our only endorsement, and I don’t foresee that changing, but we will see how the race unfolds,” Natoli said.
