Your Guide to the Special Recall Election of San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio

San Franciscans have been on a recall frenzy over the last five years, from ousting a progressive district attorney and removing three members from the Board of Education to weighing in on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s unsuccessful recall attempt in 2021.

This time, it’s residents in the city’s westside district who are up in arms over a beachside park and the local supervisor, Joel Engardio, who supported closing a portion of the Great Highway to cars to create it.

Election day is Tuesday, Sept. 16. Here’s what else to know about how to vote in San Francisco’s latest recall.

Can I vote in this San Francisco special election?

Only registered voters in District 4 can participate in the special election. Ballots have already been mailed to about 50,000 District 4 voters.

How can I vote in the recall?

If you prefer to vote in person on election day, you can fill out or drop off completed ballots at one of 20 different polling places in the city that are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Click here to find your local polling place and accessibility information.

If you prefer to drop off your ballot during early voting, you have a few options:

• Mail in your ballot, which must be postmarked by Sept. 16 and received no more than a week after election day.
• Drop off at one of three official ballot drop boxes:
  • Ortega Branch Library (3223 Ortega St)
  • The Parkside Branch Library (1200 Taraval St)
  • City Hall (1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.)
• Ballots may also be returned directly to the Department of Elections office inside City Hall.

Don’t forget to sign your ballot!

What is on the ballot?

Proposition A, the measure to recall Engardio, is the only item on this special election ballot.

Voters are asked a single question: “Shall Joel Engardio be recalled (removed) from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors?”

• A “yes” vote means you want to remove Engardio.
• A “no” vote means you want him to remain in office.

What’s the backstory to this recall effort?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the city closed parts of the Great Highway and other streets to provide open space for social distancing and recreation. Residents from across the city began using the open road for biking, rollerblading, strolling and other activities, and many pushed to make it permanent. Environmentalists joined the effort and noted that the road faces coastal erosion, and parts are already closed to cars.

Engardio, meanwhile, gained political support by backing multiple recalls in San Francisco in 2022, against District Attorney Chesa Boudin and several school board members. That year, Engardio won his seat, beating incumbent Gordon Mar.

In 2024, voters citywide passed Proposition K, which officially closed the upper portion of the Great Highway to cars. The strip of highway between Lincoln Way and Sloat Boulevard is now an oceanfront park called Sunset Dunes.

Engardio faced criticism for supporting the measure, even though the majority of District 4 voters, who live closest to the Great Highway, opposed it.

Sunset residents, angry about losing the thoroughfare, continued fighting the road closure in conversations with neighbors and in court.

On May 29, 2025, the Department of Elections certified that recall organizers had gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot for a special election.

What are recall backers saying?

Residents who want Engardio recalled say they feel “betrayed” by their supervisor for failing to listen to the majority of District 4 residents who opposed removing cars from the Great Highway.

Some say traffic has worsened, though a recent study on the road closure shows little impact.

“He’s taken away our highway,” said Jen, a Sunset resident who spoke during public comment at a recent Democratic Party meeting. “I live on La Playa and Lincoln, where it’s a nightmare. We have bumper-to-bumper traffic.”

Others point to the money flowing into Engardio’s campaign from wealthy donors, including tech billionaires and developers. The campaign to defeat the recall has collected over $822,000 from donors, including cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman and John Wolthuis, co-founder of communications software company Twilio.

“Joel has nearly taken half a million dollars from wealthy tech donors like Chris Larsen, Jeremy Stoppelman and John Wolthuis – people who don’t live here and don’t share our struggles,”” said Julia Quon, a member of the Chinese American Democratic Club. “This means that he answers to them, not us who live in the district.”

The group, which is not chartered with the local Democratic Party, donated $27,000 to the effort to recall Engardio.

What are Engardio’s supporters saying?

Supporters of Engardio in the Sunset said they enjoy the park and what it offers both the neighborhood and the city.

“I 100% support Sunset Dunes being open. Being part of nature is necessary for human well-being. It’s necessary for mental health. It’s also a really great way to build community, to meet your neighbors, being able to take your kids out, to have safe places to ride your bikes, to safe places for recreation without fear of car accidents,” said Karen Trinidad, a florist and Sunset resident. “With my business specifically, I mainly sell through pop-ups in collaboration with brick and mortar businesses in the sunset. And I have been seeing a lot more folks walking by.”

Other residents like Engardio’s stances on homelessness and public safety, saying he’s brought the neighborhood more policing resources.

“Since he’s been in office, he’s been improving the whole city on homelessness and crime. And he’s actually promoting the Sunset Night Market … and he’s been good on education,” another Engardio supporter said at the Democratic Party meeting. She was referring to the district’s night market and a ballot measure Engardio supported that voters passed to promote eighth-grade Algebra in San Francisco public schools.

Engardio has endorsements from five fellow supervisors, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, state Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto.

“I’m out there door-knocking every day making the case that what I did was I joined four other supervisors to put something on the ballot for democracy, to give people a choice of what to do with their coast,” Engardio said on KQED Forum last week.

Engardio stands by his decision to support the park, but said he still believes in residents’ right to recall.

“Sunset Dunes has the potential to become a transformational space that in a few years from now, not even that long from now, we won’t be able to imagine San Francisco without an oceanside park,” he said. “Traffic is going to get where it needs to go, it already is, and we’re going to see immense benefit from this park for the environment and for the people.”

If the recall is successful, what happens next?

Mayor Daniel Lurie would appoint a temporary replacement to represent District 4 until the next election in June 2026. Lurie, who opposed Proposition K, has not endorsed either side in the recall.

Importantly, recalling Engardio would not immediately reopen the Upper Great Highway to cars. That would require a new ballot measure to undo Proposition K. Supervisor Connie Chan has said she might explore such a measure if the recall succeeds.

It’s unclear who Lurie might appoint if Engardio is removed, but political observers say it would likely be someone open to revisiting the highway closure.

“The mayor is under a lot of pressure to appoint a moderate Chinese, or conservative Chinese American, who’s at least going to say, ‘I agree with Connie Chan. Let’s bring back the ballot measure and let the voters decide,’” political consultant David Ho said.

What happens if the recall does not succeed?

If the recall fails, Engardio will serve out his term through January 2027.

When will the results of this recall be available?

Preliminary results will be posted on election night, Sept. 16, at 8:45 p.m. on sfelections.gov/results. Vote-counting will continue until the election is certified, no later than Oct. 16.

The recall needs a simple majority (50% plus one “yes” vote) to pass.