In the race to elect four members of the San Francisco Board of Education, incumbent Mark Sanchez, a gay man, is coming in second, according to preliminary results.
Sanchez, currently the school board president, is coming in behind incumbent Jenny Lam, who was at 17.32%, and ahead of newcomers Kevine Boggess and Matt Alexander, who garnered 15.43% and 12.92% respectively, according to preliminary results. Sanchez is at 17.01%, early returns showed.
In a phone call with the Bay Area Reporter November 6, Sanchez said there is much on the school board's agenda due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I'm really happy and grateful I got reelected, and that the slate I ran with also got elected to the board of education," Sanchez said. "We have a lot of work to do on the board so that we can get our schools open, safely, as quickly as possible."
Sanchez will remain the only out member of the board.
Meanwhile, in the race for four members of the board of trustees that oversee City College of San Francisco, out candidates Shanell Williams and Tom Temprano are coming in first and second place, with 18.07% and 17.39% of the vote respectively, according to preliminary results.
Williams is currently the president of the board. Temprano, who is also a legislative aide to gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, is currently serving as the vice president of the board.
The top four is rounded out by newcomers Aliya Chisti, who is in third place with 11.60% and Alan Wong, who is in fourth place, with 11.55%.
"Though there are still ballots to be counted, I'm grateful to San Franciscans for their vote of confidence in the work I've been doing at City College these last four years," Temprano wrote to the B.A.R. November 4.
"City College will be critical to our recovery from the pandemic, and I'm going to make sure we weather our current challenges and come out stronger than ever," he added. "I'm also glad that we will continue to have strong LGBTQ+ representation on the college board and am going to keep fighting to make City College a truly safe place and welcoming space for our queer students and staff."
Williams told the B.A.R. November 4 that she is "overwhelmed and humbled" to have garnered the most votes in the race.
"That's part of why I'm a little shell-shocked," Williams said. "It's been a hard campaign with the pandemic, the California fires, and disagreements with certain constituents on our track record as incumbents.
"I feel really honored that San Francisco has continued to support my leadership at City College. I am committed to doing the hard work to protect this institution for our city," she added.
Updated, 11/6/20: This article has been updated with comments from Mark Sanchez.
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