San Francisco mayoral candidates spar in first 2024 debate

The first debate between the five prominent San Francisco mayoral candidates demonstrated the difference in their personalities and personal experience.

The debate Wednesday evening at the Sydney Goldstein Theater featured few fireworks but forced each to defend their records and elucidate their plans to address The City’s most pressing problems, including concerns over public safety, fentanyl overdoses, persistent homelessness and a beleaguered downtown economy.

Previous events had featured the candidates in one-on-one sessions, but Wednesday’s 90-minute session was the first to feature a live back-and-forth .

As is typical of an incumbent, Mayor London Breed was often the target of criticism from her four opponents — Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, Tipping Point founder and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie, Supervisor Ahsha Safai and former interim Mayor Mark Farrell.

Each candidate used the debate to reinforce the messages they’ve been touting on the campaign trail for months.

Farrell doubled down on his pledge to fire police Chief Bill Scott and prioritize increasing police staffing, despite criticism from opponents that he allowed the department’s funding to decline under his leadership when he was chair of the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee.

Breed trumpeted The City’s declining crime rate and her stances on housing. In response to a lightning-round question about what the candidates would fix with the wave of a wand, Breed said she would build thousands more units of housing.

“What we are doing is trying to rezone San Francisco in a very responsible way to get more housing built throughout San Francisco, along transit corridors, that protects neighborhood character, but also provides an opportunity to build,” Breed said.

The rules of the debate allowed candidates to respond if they were mentioned by name, but Breed’s opponents found a loophole. Several criticized the current administration but did not explicitly name Breed, thus depriving her of the opportunity to respond.

Among those who decried the current state of city leadership was Lurie. He was directly called out on two occasions for being a novice to city politics, but he basked in the criticism.

Lurie pointed out that his opponents shared more than 70 years of combined experience in office — and “look at where it’s gotten us,” he said.

Lurie twice directed viewers of the debate to head to his website and review his policy plans, underpinning his campaign built on making San Francisco government work.

Safai did not shy away from a question about his deep ties to labor — he previously served as political director for the San Francisco janitors union — and pitched himself as an advocate for working families who could bridge political divides.

As expected, Peskin was forced to articulate his often-criticized record on housing. He was ready for the questions, claiming he’d never voted against a proposal for affordable housing during his four terms on the Board of Supervisors.

“I actually have the best record on housing you’ve never heard of,” said Peskin, who vowed to protect neighborhood character and not allow Ocean Beach to become like Miami Beach.

Breed, who has positioned herself as the optimistic candidate, remained adamant that The City is improving under her leadership. But on Wednesday, her opponents seized on what they perceived to be her failures, though they offered different versions of their approaches to the job.

Farrell and Lurie pledged to declare a state of emergency and marshal resources to disrupt fentanyl dealing and the overdose crisis, for example, while Breed highlighted the efforts she’s already made to do so.

Peskin lamented that law enforcement had arrested more drug users than dealers, and Safai decried The City’s inability to make use of the resources it already has at its disposal.

Assessing where candidates stand in a race is challenging in San Francisco, where ranked-choice voting can make it exceedingly difficult to predict election results.

However, early polls have demonstrated a few clear trends, and the race appears to be very much up for grabs.

Although many voters view her negatively, Breed continues to fare well when pitted against the other candidates and could be considered the leading candidate.

Farrell released a poll Wednesday morning commissioned by his campaign that showed him narrowly winning more first-choice votes than Breed by about 1% of the 500 likely voters surveyed.

Peskin and Lurie are still very clearly in the mix, though Peskin tends to suffer from a higher percentage of voters knowing — and disliking — him.

More broadly, San Franciscans have shown in surveys that they are concerned about the direction in which The City is heading, with concerns over public safety top of mind. Naturally, that would indicate trouble for Breed’s reelection bid, but at least one recent poll — commissioned by the group GrowSF — shows the percentage of people who feel negatively is shrinking.

Political observers and voters in San Francisco will not have to wait long for the next mayoral debate. The candidates are slated to participate in a debate organized by the Democratic County Central Committee at UC Law on June 17 at 7:30 p.m.

The consolidated general election is scheduled to take place Nov. 5.