It’s more bad news for San Francisco Democratic Mayor London Breed’s reelection efforts.
A new poll shows the California mayor is at serious risk of losing her competitive reelection race and that a majority of San Francisco voters hold a negative view of her while her closest competitor, Mark Farrell, would have the most support in the first round of ranked choice voting.
What’s worse for Breed is that the poll took place one day after Farrell, a former mayor and city supervisor, announced his candidacy.
Twenty percent of likely voters would rank Farrell as their first choice, with Breed coming in at 18%. Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie came in third with 16%, followed by Supervisor Ahsha Safai at 8%.
“Obviously, with the number of undecided voters that we have, you don’t want to draw too firm of a conclusion,” Jonathan Brown, the Sextant Strategies president who led the San Francisco Chronicle poll, said. “But … if this is the field of major candidates right now, it certainly looks like Breed is in very, very serious trouble.”
The poll, conducted this month of 812 likely voters, found that 71% disapprove of Breed’s job performance.
Breed has failed to gain traction with voters who have complained the city hasn’t rebounded as quickly as others following the pandemic. Others have pointed to the persistent homelessness crisis and open-air drug use on city streets as to why they favor a leadership change. There has also been an exodus of businesses in San Francisco that claim the city is rife with crime and very little punishment.
Still, there may be time for Breed to win back some voters. With more than eight months to go before the election, 40% of the electorate remains undecided.
In recent weeks, Breed has pushed a number of tough-on-crime policies. She’s also demanded accountability for welfare recipients. She ruffled feathers in February when she announced midcycle budget cuts as her administration attempts to pass its next budget in July. That has translated into pausing several programs including a homeless center in the Tenderloin district which had been funded in the previous budget but has not yet launched.
Farrell, a venture capitalist who served as the interim mayor of San Francisco for six months in 2018, entered the race earlier this month. He had been in that role when Breed was elected to finish Mayor Ed Lee‘s term after he died unexpectedly in office.
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Farrell had not planned to return to politics but said he couldn’t stand by and watch the city crumble under Breed’s leadership.
“It is really painful to watch the city you love and you grew up in maligned across the globe,” he said.