Back in the early days of this column, I would occasionally get letters from irate readers over my latest rant telling me in less-than-flowery terms to go back where I came from.So you can understand when I told them that I was actually from San Francisco, that it would annoy them even more. In this label-happy town, I was either too liberal or conservative, too gutsy or weak, or too full of things that can’t be reprinted here.
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Mud was slung freely, along with accusations of voter fraud and campaign money laundering. But years from now, the 2011 San Francisco mayoral race is likely to be better remembered for its obsession with Ed Lee’s mustache, the curious involvement of otherwise irrelevant rapper MC Hammer and a pingpong match between rival candidates.
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Supervisor John Avalos became the best anti-Lee candidate in the race, outlasting all others in the crowded race who failed to distinguish themselves. But in the end, Lee proved untouchable and on Friday Avalos conceded.
Avalos had postponed conceding until all the ballots were counted, which took all week.
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Two write-in candidates in the mayoral race have yet to receive even one measly vote, but both said they did indeed vote for themselves and they’re just waiting for it to be counted.Coming in at zero votes so far are John Edward Fitch — a first time candidate and 58-year-old resident of the Tenderloin neighborhood — and Patrick Monette-Shaw, who also ran for mayor in 2007.Fitch said he voted, but added that there was a larger reason why he didn’t do well in the race.
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Much has been made of Asian voter influence in Tuesday’s mayoral election, but it’s also important to note that the geographic support of Ed Lee’s stretched citywide — including into the home district of his closest competitor.
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Amid calls for changes to The City’s public financing program, which is available for mayoral and supervisor candidates, the Ethics Commission will debate what a revised program should look like. The first hearing is set for Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Room 408 at City Hall.
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Mayor Ed Lee sailed to victory spending the most cash of any other candidate in the mayor’s race. As of Wednesday, reported spending to elect Lee to a four-year term totaled $2,682,859, which includes his campaign spending and those of third-parties groups, according to the Ethics Commission.
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Phil Ting received $279,668 in taxpayer-funded financing for his mayoral candidacy, but as of Wednesday he only received 806 votes. That’s $347 per vote spent by San Francisco taxpayers to subsidize his failed campaign.
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Widespread voter confusion, wasted millions in campaign financing, claims of election fraud — just a typical November in San Francisco.
City voters proved once again that they can rise above the clamor, and while they had to wait patiently for their ballots to be counted under our spin-the-big-wheel system of elections, they at least reiterated that San Francisco has no plans to become Oakland.
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Ed Lee all but declared victory after early counting in the mayoral race Tuesday night, when he was enjoying a comfortable lead over his closest contender, Supervisor John Avalos.
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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/topics/sf-mayor-2011
