With no one filing to run against him in November, gay San Francisco Treasurer-Tax Collector José Cisneros will cakewalk into a sixth term through 2028, giving him a historic 24-year tenure. Should he serve all four years, Cisneros will become the Bay Area's longest-serving LGBTQ elected official in the same position.
Cisneros, whose position is not term-limited, is believed to be the longest-serving gay Latino elected official in the U.S. It also makes him the longest-serving person of color in elected office.
He still has years to go before becoming the longest-serving LGBTQ elected official in the country. Lesbian former Minnesota House of Representatives member Karen J. Clark appears to hold that title, having served in her legislative chamber for 38 years until stepping down in January 2019.
"I am not sure I am going to beat her," Cisneros, 68, joked to the Bay Area Reporter.
Speaking to the B.A.R. earlier this year, Cisneros didn't rule out seeking another term in 2028, potentially extending his time in office through 2032. At the time, he didn't expect to face an opponent this year.
The filing deadline for someone else to have entered the race was August 9. Even though Cisneros faces no competition, his name will still appear on the November 5 ballot.
"First of all, I couldn't be happier," Cisneros told the B.A.R. about being assured of his reelection. "I mean, you have heard this from me before, I am very proud to have been an openly gay Latino elected official for — in just two weeks — for 20 solid years here in San Francisco. That fills me with pride, and now I am honored to have the opportunity to serve for four more years and continue to work for the people of San Francisco."
Longtime friend Bevan Dufty, a gay former city supervisor who is the current president of the board for regional transit agency BART, told the B.A.R. he is "incredibly proud" of Cisneros' political milestone and achievements. They met prior to his tenure as treasurer.
"I think he has taken his role and he has really elevated it through initiatives such as kindergarten to college, financial justice for all, and Bank on San Francisco," said Dufty, "and put his office really in the vanguard of helping people break out of cycles of poverty."
Cisneros, married to San Francisco Human Rights Commissioner Mark Kelleher, was first appointed as the city's treasurer in 2004 to fill a vacancy by then-mayor Gavin Newsom, now the state's governor. He won a competitive race for a full four-year term in 2005; it was the only time Cisneros has been challenged for the citywide post.
With his normal four-year terms twice changed due to when his position would appear on the city's ballot, Cisneros only served two years before seeking a full four-year term in 2015. Voters in 2022 approved a ballot measure moving his and several other citywide races to being held during presidential election years, thus Cisneros is currently finishing up a five-year term.
In 2019, 15 years into his tenure, Cisneros took the record for being San Francisco's longest-serving openly gay elected official in the same post. Gay former supervisors Tom Ammiano and the late Harry Britt both served on the board for 14 years.
The current record-holder for the Bay Area region is gay former Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who served for 22 years in his position before opting not to seek reelection in 2018. He was Berkeley's first gay elected official.
The region's longest-serving out female elected leader in the same post is lesbian Oakland At-Large City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan. First elected to her citywide seat in 2008, she opted not to run again this year and will depart after serving in it for 16 years.
Kaplan has one of the longest time spans as a local elected official, at 23 years, having spent seven years as an elected member of the AC Transit District Board of Directors. The agency provides bus service in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
The record-holder, at 26 years, is gay former Santa Clara County supervisor and San Jose councilmember Ken Yeager, who first won election to a community college board seat in 1992. The South Bay's first out elected official, Yeager was termed off the countywide board in 2018.
As for Cisneros, he remains the first and only LGBTQ man to serve in one of San Francisco's seven citywide municipal elected positions. (His lesbian predecessor, Susan Leal, was the first and, to date, only LGBTQ woman to do so.) And based on who filed to run for the five of those seats that will appear on the November 5 ballot, Cisneros is expected to remain the city's current lone LGBTQ citywide municipal elected leader.
In the mayoral race, two gay men did qualify for the ballot — Keith Freedman and Jon Soderstrom — but are underdogs in the race. The top tier of candidates are all straight allies, with Mayor London Breed fending off challenges from former mayor and supervisor Mark Farrell, Board of Supervisors President from District 3 Aaron Peskin, District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune Daniel Lurie, who founded the Tipping Point Community nonprofit that works to address poverty in the Bay Area.
City Attorney David Chiu drew an opponent in attorney and school football coach Richard T. Woon. Sheriff Paul Miyamoto is being challenged by UC San Francisco police officer Michael Juan.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is fending off a challenge from former deputy district attorney Ryan Khojasteh, whom she had fired after being elected to the post in 2022. Breed had appointed Jenkins as DA that June following the recall of progressive DA Chesa Bodin.
San Francisco Democrats state Senator Scott Wiener, who is gay, and Assemblymember Matt Haney are set to easily win reelection. District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani is favored in her race against fellow Democrat David Lee to succeed termed-out Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco).
As for the other elected positions up this fall, it appears that once again there will be no LGBTQ representation on the board overseeing the San Francisco Unified School District. Queer school board member Mark Sanchez opted not to seek reelection this November, and it doesn't appear any LGBTQ people filed to run for the four seats up this year.
Luis A. Zamora, a gay man who is Chiu's director of executive affairs, is seen as having a strong shot of winning one of the four City College of San Francisco board seats on the ballot. If elected, he would bolster out representation with the departure of bisexual board member Shanell Williams, who opted against seeking a third term, and serve alongside CCSF Trustee Vick Chung, the first nonbinary, genderqueer person to hold elected office in San Francisco whose term is up in 2026.
Gay men Joe Sangirardi, a housing advocate, and Edward Wright, an adviser for strategy and communication for the city's Muni transit system, are running to succeed Dufty in his District 9 BART board seat that covers San Francisco's eastern neighborhoods. After announcing he would step down last year, as the B.A.R. was first to report, Dufty endorsed Sangirardi in May.
Of the odd-numbered supervisor seats up for grabs this year, the only one that could add a fourth out member to the board is the District 9 race in the Mission district, Portola, and Bernal Heights. Queer progressives Stephen Torres and Jackie Fielder, plus gay moderate Trevor Chandler, are seeking to succeed termed-out Supervisor Hillary Ronen in a field of seven candidates with straight ally Roberto Hernandez also among the top tier of contenders.
Although the fall election will not sweep in a record number of LGBTQ electeds in San Francisco, Dufty told the B.A.R. he isn't worried about seeing the ranks of out local leaders diminish. The next couple of election cycles will provide several opportunities to grow the city's so-called farm team of out politicians, which currently stands at 10 elected leaders.
"In the short-term things might not pan out to advance more LGBTQ breakthroughs, but there are going to be some races in the next couple of years to provide those," said Dufty.
As for Cisneros, he told the B.A.R. he will be laser-focused over the next 80 days on helping to usher one of his former municipal elected colleagues into the White House. He served alongside Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris when she was the city's district attorney.
"She is the very, very best candidate around. She will do a fantastic job as our next president," said Cisneros.
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on queer Washington state congressional candidate Emily Randall declaring victory in her August 6 primary race.
UPDATED 8/17/24 to clarify Joe Cisneros is the first LGBTQ man to serve in one of San Francisco's seven citywide municipal elected positions.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
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