In 1983, Mayor Dianne Feinstein overwhelmingly beat a recall initiated by zany gun nuts. This came at a time when the gun murders of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were hardly a distant memory. The terrain favored the incumbent, whose campaign wisely made the recall not a valediction on her performance but instead ridiculed the notion of a recall and the fringe recallers.
This was never an option open to Supervisor Joel Engardio, whose means of political ascent was participating in recall movements. The recall against him had instantaneous credibility and was wholly tied to whatever you thought about his stand on closing the Great Highway.
In November, 64 percent of Engardio’s constituents rejected Engardio’s stance on that issue. In tonight’s early returns, 65 percent of Engardio’s constituents rejected Engardio.
That hardly seems coincidental or subtle. Sometimes things really, really aren’t coincidental or subtle.
Mark it zero, Dude: It’s a new political moment in San Francisco. Ask a San Francisco politico when recalls will fade from prominence and the answer is simple: When someone beats one. That wasn’t today; if Team Engardio had beaten this one they’d have been talking about it for the rest of time like Joe Namath is still talking about Super Bowl III.
Instead a whole new political dynamic opened up today. The modern San Francisco recall movement, a conduit for billionaire dollars to dislodge progressive politicians, has lost one of its own. Unlike other recalls in recent San Francisco history, this one did not enjoy the patronage of billionaire backers.
Quite the opposite: The near majority of the money donated to keep Engardio in office emanated from three wealthy backers. And the recall succeeded — overwhelmingly succeeded — in spite of them. It turns out you don’t need wealthy benefactors to run a successful (overwhelmingly successful) recall. As such, this weapon has slipped out of the hands of the elites and down to the masses.
This feels a bit like non-Western nations getting The Bomb. It will be interesting to see who gets blown up next.
A large majority of voters took two big steps to fix our city this year:
1. Recalled an incompetent school board
2. Recalled an ineffective district attorney
But we can’t fully fix San Francisco until we take a third, vital step:
3. Replace out-of-touch city supervisors. 2/16
— Joel Engardio (@JoelEngardio) June 16, 2022
It could be so many targets. Because, as we’ve written before, the recall of Joel Engardio — especially by overwhelming vote totals — is a shot across the bow of every San Francisco elected official. No, not every supervisor who votes for Mayor Daniel Lurie’s upzoning plan is going to face a recall. But any supervisor who is perceived as blowing off their constituency is now taking his or her chances.
And that’s because there are so many people eager to push The Button.
The anger level behind this recall was, at times, difficult to fathom. Even the recall campaign was taken aback by tonight’s margin of victory. San Franciscans have been nurtured in their anger for some time now, to the exclusion of quantifiable facts. This was a dangerous game for politicians to play — we all know Churchill’s dictum about riding tigers. Or, in the parlance of our times: Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear, well, he eats you.
There was little doubt about who was eaten today. And San Francisco offers a veritable smörgåsbord of potential political meals in the not-too-distant future.
Mayor Daniel Lurie opposed Prop. K last year. He took no position on the recall, doing his best imitation of the Homer retreating into the bushes meme anytime the subject came up. The mayor, incidentally, spent today observing “improved” tennis courts at McLaren Park with Swiss 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer.
When the disastrous results dropped tonight for Engardio, Lurie released the following statement:
As I campaigned for mayor last year, I heard countless west side families say what San Franciscans have been feeling for years: that their government is doing things to them, not with them, and that government is not working to make their lives better.
That’s why my administration has continued to communicate openly and transparently with San Franciscans on a wide range of important issues—from public safety and the behavioral health crisis to affordable housing and public space. This honest dialogue has bred a strong working relationship with the Board of Supervisors and a shared feeling that San Francisco is coming back stronger than ever. We will continue to be in constant communication with our partners in government and across communities as we work to make San Franciscans’ lives better—that means delivering a city that is safe and clean, where small businesses can thrive and the next generation of San Franciscans can afford to raise their children.
As votes are still being counted and the election will be certified in the coming weeks, our team is evaluating next steps for the District Four supervisor seat.
Woah. Looks like Roger Federer isn’t the only one with a wicked backhand.
Joel Engardio conceding the race at his campaign headquarters on Sept. 16, 2025. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman.
If you’re looking for big winners tonight, look no further than Engardio’s northern neighbor, District 1 supervisor Connie Chan. She has just been empowered tremendously in her attempt to negotiate amendments to Lurie’s upzoning plan. She can continue to speak softly. Tonight’s recall just provided the big stick.
It is now incumbent on Lurie to name Engardio’s successor. In their zeal to oust Engardio, District 4 residents may have lost any leverage they had on their supervisor to modify or counter the mayor’s plans.
Who Lurie intends to appoint to fill out Engardio’s term is not known. What’s more relevant is whether the next District 4 supervisor has aspirations to hold the job permanently or is just a caretaker.
Any D4 supervisor appointed to the job and immediately voting for Lurie’s upzoning plan is essentially self-immolating. But a caretaker could take any number of unpopular votes and then ride off, literally, into the Sunset. Lurie’s decision is forthcoming.
Following tonight’s outcome, Engardio’s backers mentioned the possibility of recall reform. Well, plus ça change: In 2022 Aaron Peskin pushed for recall reform on the same ballot as the recall of DA Chesa Boudin — and it was trounced. Voters don’t like giving up their power, no matter who asks them.
Recalls, it seems, will be something we live with for the foreseeable future. And, politically at least, die with.