Alan Wong Holds Commanding Lead in SF Supervisor Race

Natalie Gee, a legislative aide for Supervisor Shamann Walton, was carrying slightly less than 28% of the initial vote.

Gee raised the most money leading up to election night, with $390,000 in total contributions, largely from a committee backed by local labor organizations. Wong, who had Lurie’s endorsement, received $383,000, with the majority coming from a PAC sponsored by the moderate political advocacy group GrowSF.

Wong ran on promises to restore a “compromise” to bring cars back to the Great Highway during the week and keep the road car-free on weekends. The fate of the road, which is currently closed to cars and known as Sunset Dunes park, was a central issue in the district’s recent recall election. While voters citywide agreed to close the road and open Sunset Dunes in a 2024 election, the majority of Sunset residents who live closest to the park voted against it.

Engardio said Tuesday that “voters got to choose and that was a good thing.”

Only one candidate in the race, Jeremy Greco, called for keeping Sunset Dunes a park all week.

Albert Chow, a local business owner and vocal supporter of the recall, and educator David Lee, were also looking to unseat Wong.

While some local concerns about the park have mellowed, some residents in the Sunset community have also resisted efforts to build more housing in the largely residential neighborhood.

Wong supported Lurie’s successful rezoning plan, which allows taller and denser housing in the neighborhood, shortly after his December appointment to the seat — a decision that his opponents in the race highlighted.

“If we did not take action locally with a proposal, then Sacramento would have imposed their own plan and subjected our city to financial penalties,” Wong said.

He has said he wants to add units to existing buildings and residential lots, while improving Muni lines so residents have reliable public transportation options.

Gee vowed to promote new housing while protecting rent control units and took issue with the mayor’s rezoning plan. She supported the Overpaid CEO Tax as a way to raise funding for affordable housing and other public services.

“After the plan passed, we immediately saw large-scale development proposals move forward without meaningful community input,” she said.

Housing was also a central issue in the city’s District 2 supervisor race, where Stephen Sherrill, the incumbent, took a commanding 71% lead Tuesday night.

“I’m so proud of the progress we’ve made over the last year to keep San Francisco moving in the right direction. We’ve made our neighborhoods safer, brought new energy to our commercial corridors, advanced much-needed housing and pushed City Hall to be more responsive and accountable. There is still more work to do, but I believe deeply in this city and in what we can accomplish together,” Sherrill said in a statement Tuesday.

Lori Brooke, president of the Cow Hollow Association, carried slightly less than 29%.

Brooke strongly opposed the mayor’s housing plan, telling KQED it won’t solve the affordability crisis and “it’s just deregulating our zoning in San Francisco.” She characterized the statewide push for more housing as “a developer giveaway,” arguing that it ignores local voices.

Before building more housing, Brooke said she wanted to find ways to put vacant units and illegal units into use for rentals. Her position earned her endorsements from groups like the San Francisco Tenants Union and the California Working Families Party.

Sherrill, meanwhile, was a supporter and voted “yes” for Lurie’s housing plan.

“San Francisco has not created the opportunity to build housing for 30 years,” he told KQED, adding that the lack of housing makes it hard for the city’s workforce to live in the city.

District 2 is home to some of San Francisco’s most upscale neighborhoods, like Pacific Heights and the Marina, and has historically elected more moderate candidates to represent it on the Board of Supervisors.

This is the first election for supervisor since then-Mayor London Breed appointed Stephen Sherrill in 2024 to fill the seat left vacant when then-Supervisor Catherine Stefani was elected to the state Assembly.

Breed’s decision to appoint Sherrill generated controversy in the latest election, however, after former Breed staffers came forward to allege that she made the selection with future job prospects related to Michael Bloomberg, whom Sherrill formerly worked for, in mind.

Despite the allegations, Sherrill earned endorsements from Lurie, Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, the county Democratic Party and the police union.

KQED’s Katie DeBenedetti contributed to this report.