Should Scotty Jacobs be elected San Francisco's next District 5 supervisor, at age 30, he would be the youngest gay person to win a seat on the Board of Supervisors. The youngest out supervisor to date was Leslie Katz, a lesbian who was 34 when she was appointed to fill a board vacancy in 1996.
Jacobs would also bring the 11-member governing body closer to having a plurality of gay members, as three gay men currently serve on it. Should one of the three out candidates seeking the open District 9 seat this year also win, then the board would have a historic five-person LGBTQ bloc.
"I believe there is a significant portion of voters in District 5 who want a change in direction. They are craving a reset and a new direction for San Francisco," said Jacobs, who will turn 31 in December.
A win by Jacobs would mark a stunning upset by a political newcomer against an incumbent supervisor. Since 2000, just two San Francisco supervisors who had won election to their seats were later defeated at the ballot box. The first was Michael Yaki.
Initially appointed to fill a vacancy in early 1996, Yaki went on to win election to a full term that November when supervisors were elected citywide. But four years later Yaki lost his bid for the District 1 seat to Jake McGoldrick; in 2000 the city reverted to electing supervisors by district.
Two years ago, then-supervisor Gordon Mar was defeated in a newly redrawn District 4 by Joel Engardio, a gay man who had lost previous bids for the District 7 seat on the Board of Supervisors. Over the past 24 years another four appointed supervisors were rejected by voters when they first appeared on the ballot.
One of the victors in those races was District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, who prevailed in his 2019 race against former supervisor Vallie Brown. She had been appointed to fill the vacancy created the year prior by then-supervisor London Breed's winning a special mayoral election prompted by the sudden death of mayor Ed Lee in late 2017.
Breed had also defeated an appointed District 5 supervisor. In 2012, she ousted from office Christina Olague, the first bisexual to serve on the board who had been tapped by Lee that year to fill a vacancy.
In 2020, Preston fended off a challenge from Brown to retake the District 5 seat that has long included the Haight, Western Addition and Fillmore neighborhoods. Now, Preston is seeking a second four-year term on the November 5 ballot and fending off challenges from four opponents.
"While a lot of people are trashing the city nonstop, I have been working to make this a better community," Preston, 54, said during Monday's candidate debate co-hosted by the San Francisco League of Women Voters. "I have never been a part of the status quo in San Francisco. I have always fought for change here. I will continue fighting for the changes this city needs: real public safety solutions, affordability, affordable housing, overdose prevention and a public bank."
In addition to Jacobs, also running against Preston are longtime City Hall watchdog Allen Jones, 67, a Black Republican and self-described homosexual, and Autumn Looijen, who co-led the successful 2022 recall of three San Francisco school board members along with her partner, Siva Raj, who is bisexual.
At the September 9 debate, the first one with the five candidates in the race, Jones said he is running because "I love San Francisco for all it has done and I want to give back to the city that helped my father raise his children." Jones' dad had 10 kids he raised as a single parent.
Running on her record of tackling various issues with the city's public school district over the last few years, as she and Riva are parents, Looijen argues she can bring effective leadership to the board. She readily gives out her phone number so anyone with a problem can call her for help in addressing it.
"I will get things done for you," Looijen, 47, noted at the debate. "Tell me your problems."
The Chinese American Democratic Club and the San Francisco Police Officers Association have endorsed her.
The fourth challenger in the race is Bilal Mahmood, 37, who lost his 2022 bid for state Assembly. In March, Mahmood won a seat on the body that oversees the San Francisco Democratic Party and later secured its sole endorsement of him in the supervisor race. Breed and gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) also endorsed his candidacy, as did Brown.
In June, Mahmood won the endorsement of the local party's transgender former chair, Honey Mahogany, who now runs the city's Office of Transgender Initiatives. The city's Tenderloin and its Transgender District, which Mahogany had advocated for its creation, were added to District 5 during the last redistricting process.
"He understands the real need to take bold action on housing, prioritize public safety, and support San Francisco's small businesses," Mahogany stated as for why she was backing Mahmood.
He has argued he will cut the red tape that slows down everything from housing developments to hiring city staff if elected. At this week's debate Mahmood said his goal is to make sure that "bureaucracy is not impeding the outcomes of our district."
Preston, the most progressive member of the board, has been endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club. He also earned the endorsement of Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), prompting questions if the moderate lawmaker did so with an eye toward the eventual race for her House seat in which her daughter, Christine Pelosi, is widely expected to compete for against Wiener.
This week, Preston picked up support from the Reverend Amos Brown, a longtime Black leader and former supervisor in the city. In doing so, Brown stated, "Supervisor Preston has shown that he is committed to our community."
For much of the year most political observers saw the race largely as a matchup between Preston and Mahmood. Then Jacobs jumped into the fray, launching his bid in May ahead of the June filing deadline.
He then nabbed the more moderate Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club's second choice endorsement. The club gave its first choice endorsement to Mahmood, as voters can rank their choices for supervisor under the city's instant runoff voting system.
Former mayor and supervisor Mark Farrell, running against Breed this year to return to Room 200 at City Hall, sole endorsed Jacobs in his race. Farrell told the Bay Area Reporter he did so because the two "share a lot of the same beliefs. I know he is new and launched his campaign late, but I think he would be a great member of the Board of Supervisors and just a common sense candidate."
One sign that Preston's campaign is taking Jacobs' candidacy in the race seriously came in a news release post the September 9 candidate debate that noted both he and Mahmood had praised actions Preston has taken as supervisor. The other two candidates went unmentioned.
Grew up in Marin
Jacobs grew up in San Rafael in Marin County north of San Francisco and came out during his junior year of high school. He left to attend Washington University in St. Louis, from which he graduated with a B.A. in history and political science in 2016.
The following year he moved into the Presidio, a former military base turned national park on San Francisco's northern tip, becoming the fourth generation of his family to call the city home. In the 1900s his great grandfather opened the family's wholesale beauty supply business in the Tenderloin.
During COVID, Jacobs bought a condo in Marin County and moved there for two years to help his mom after his parents separated following his father losing everything due to making "bad financial decisions," said Jacobs. He now rents it to tenants, as his mom moved to Larkspur; his father relocated to Nashville where his parents live.
In 2022, Jacobs moved back to the city near the Panhandle and Divisadero commercial corridor and rents an apartment with his younger brother. In May, he left his job as director of brand management at the consumer packaged goods company Kinder's but continues to own his brand management consulting firm Secret Sauce.
His business experience makes him well qualified to serve on the board, argued Jacobs. He also believes a new generation of young leaders is needed at City Hall; it has been 24 years since Chris Daly, at the age of 28, became the youngest ever person elected supervisor in San Francisco.
"Every single problem in San Francisco is highly fixable. I really believe that," said Jacobs. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe that, otherwise I would just be a masochist."
D5 forum
The B.A.R. will moderate a forum with the candidates September 25 that is being co-presented by the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association, North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association, and Lower Haight Merchant & Neighbors Association. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the discussion will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Koret Auditorium at the Main Library, 100 Larkin Street.
For more information about the forum, click here.
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 a new initiative independent booksellers have launched to combat book bans.
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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