The contest to lead San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is about more than who can assemble six votes after the November election. The president can shape committee assignments and the path legislation takes, while the role also carries mayoral succession responsibilities. But those powers do not give the president sole control over what committees hear—a distinction that matters as supervisors Myrna Melgar and Matt Dorsey emerge as the likeliest contenders.
The contest and the mayor’s office
According to The San Francisco Standard, Melgar, who represents District 7, and Dorsey, who represents District 6, are considered frontrunners among power-play sources tracking the race. The contest carries stakes for the relationship between the Board and the mayor’s office.
What the president can—and cannot—control
The presidency carries several procedural and succession powers. The Standard reports that the president makes committee assignments, refers legislation to committees, can waive 30-day holds on proposed bills, and becomes acting city leader if something happens to the mayor. That last responsibility could become especially consequential this cycle: if Supervisor Connie Chan wins a seat in Congress in the November 3 election, the resulting city vacancy would need to be filled by the mayor, changing the board’s composition before the presidential vote in January 2027.
The president’s influence has limits
The president’s role in assigning committees and referring legislation gives the office significant influence over the board’s structure and legislative routing.
The board’s makeup could also change through the November 3 election, when voters will decide the District 8 and District 10 seats. They will also vote on Proposition G, which concerns reopening the Great Highway to vehicle traffic.
Recent votes offer contrasting precedents
Recent precedent for the presidency vote swings wildly. Mandelman was selected unanimously on Jan. 8, 2025, as the only supervisor nominated by colleagues, with the vote coming roughly half an hour after that year's inaugural meeting began, as reported by the San Francisco Examiner. That board had been newly inaugurated with five new members — Bilal Mahmood, Stephen Sherrill, Danny Sauter, Jackie Fielder and Chyanne Chen — and held a moderate majority for the first time in years, the Examiner reported, even as the city faced a budget deficit then projected to reach nearly $1 billion over two years.
The 2023 vote was a sharp contrast: Aaron Peskin needed more than a dozen rounds to secure six votes, according to the Examiner. Peskin and former board president Shamann Walton both had strained relationships with then-Mayor London Breed. Peskin, unanimously elected president twice during his first two terms representing District 3, has said a good president should care about what is best for the board as a whole, according to the Standard. The office has also preceded higher office for former presidents London Breed, Malia Cohen and David Chiu, the San Francisco Chronicle has noted.
Other political and City Hall developments
The dispute over former San Francisco Arts Commission cultural affairs director Ralph Remington has continued after he moved to Panama and published a Substack essay criticizing his departure and the people involved. Arts Commission program officer Jen Atwood filed a whistleblower complaint against Remington in May.
Manny Yekutiel suspended his District 8 supervisor campaign after sexual assault allegations surfaced.
A congressional campaign’s San Francisco detour
Republican Representative James Gallagher is seeking to retain the seat he won by succeeding Doug LaMalfa in California’s 1st Congressional District. The Standard reported that Gallagher’s campaign spent $50,000 on ads in the wrong congressional district. Separately, former District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio has relaunched his SF Politics 101 presentation at SPUR headquarters in the South of Market district.
For San Franciscans looking to get a handle on how all of this fits together, former District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio has relaunched his SF Politics 101 presentation, hosted at SPUR headquarters in the city's South of Market district.
