San Francisco Mayor London Breed's reelection campaign has apologized after falsely stating that she was the Bay Area Reporter's sole endorsement in the mayoral race in an email to supporters October 22.
The paper's editorial board endorsed Breed No. 1 and progressive opponent Aaron Peskin No. 2 on October 2 in the November 5 contest.
Campaign spokesperson Joe Arellano stated October 22 that the email — which touted the endorsement by stating, "The Bay Area Reporter, a respected voice in our LGBTQ community, has given their sole endorsement to Mayor London Breed" — was the result of an "unintentional oversight."
"We will make sure to note it appropriately going forward," he stated. "Our campaign staffer in charge of sending these emails thought it was a sole and changed our original language that was correct. We're very sorry for the mistake."
The news came less than a week after another email from Breed's campaign selectively quoted portions of the San Francisco Chronicle's editorial endorsing another rival Daniel Lurie, as that paper reported. That editorial had stated Breed was a "safe choice" who "deserves credit" for her handling of the COVID pandemic, but also had criticism before launching into an endorsement of Lurie.
Asked if Breed's campaign would be making a correction, Arellano stated that a tweet went out stating that Breed is "thrilled to share that The Bay Area Reporter has officially endorsed our campaign No. 1."
"Her social media has way more followers than our campaign email distribution list," he explained.
Peskin — who revealed to the Chronicle that Breed had given him a call asking to be part of a ranked-choice strategy with him similar to that being employed by candidates Mark Farrell and Ahsha Safaí — stated to the B.A.R., "Things get a little crazy in campaigns, but that's twice in a row — first the Chronicle and now the B.A.R. Voters deserve better."
He declined to encourage his voters to select Breed as their second choice in the race, according to the Chronicle article.
Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.
Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.
Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay -- Donate today!