A new mayor. A new majority. A new 29-year-old supervisor with no political experi … whoops, never mind, she’s gone.
What really went down inside the wood-paneled Board of Supervisors chambers in 2025? And what does it reveal about how 2026 may unfold? The Standard analyzed thousands of board votes and hundreds of pieces of legislation to untangle the trends of the supervisors — a City Hall “Wrapped,” if you will.
The analysis examines legislation that each supervisor authored and excluded bills they signed onto as a sponsor. It doesn’t include the board’s newest member, Supervisor Alan Wong, who took over after the 200-hour tenure of Beya Alcaraz in November.
The results aren’t qualitative: They capture only one aspect of a board member’s responsibilities and don’t include the long hours spent speaking with constituents or coordinating with city departments to address issues in their districts, among many other duties.
Many supervisors will tell you that the presumed framework of moderate and progressive officials that dominates City Hall is a bunch of hogwash. They’re partially correct — it’s hard to fit some of the board members into an ideological box just by looking at their voting records.
But one measurement does expose tribal rifts. In 2025, supervisors cast between roughly 1,500 and 2,000 votes on various topics, including housing, public safety, and homelessness. Over the year, one supervisor took the cake for the most “no” votes: Jackie Fielder of the Mission, widely considered one of the board’s most progressive members, according to data as of Dec. 15.
Out of the 1,537 votes Fielder cast in 2025, she said “no” a total of 43 times, on bills that include the mayor’s Family Zoning Plan, appointees to the city’s commissions, and the budget. That may not sound like a lot, but it pales in comparison to Board President Rafael Mandelman, who is considered a moderate and voted “no” four times. Other progressive allies of Fielder, including Supervisors Shamann Walton, Connie Chan, and Chyanne Chen, also voted “no” at a greater clip than their colleagues.
Jason McDaniel, a politics professor at San Francisco State University, said Fielder has established herself as the main opposition to the moderate agenda and Mayor Daniel Lurie. “She has definitely taken up the mantle of where Dean Preston was,” McDaniel said, referring to the former Democratic Socialist supervisor who voted against much of Mayor London Breed’s agenda.
Fielder said her voting record “aligns with the principles I have for good governance, for legislation, and budget decisions that serve the working class.” She added, “I’m pretty solid in what I’ve been able to say with my ‘no’ votes.”
It seems straightforward. More years on the board means more experience in churning out laws.
That equation generally holds true at the Board of Supervisors. Most of the freshmen, including Fielder, Chyanne Chen, Stephen Sherrill, and Danny Sauter, introduced or passed laws in the single digits, according to data as of Dec. 19. Mandelman, who has the longest tenure on the board, has 23 on the books.
There are some notable exceptions. Bilal Mahmood, who joined the board this year, passed or introduced 10 laws, considerably more than many of his fellow newbies. Compare that to Walton, the second-most-senior member of the board, who brought forth eight.
“I don’t know what the baseline is,” Mahmood said of his track record. “I just did what I thought was necessary.”
Of course, as Chris Micheli, a Sacramento-based attorney and lobbyist, noted, more legislation does not necessarily mean better governance: “Somebody could do two laws in 2025, but they were very significant and they impact every San Franciscan in their daily life, versus somebody who did five, but they were all like mom and apple pie. And they sailed right through. And there was no organized opposition.”
Much of supervisors’ time inside board chambers is spent getting their bills off the ground.
Ordinances — laws that are binding and enforceable — can take months to pass and sometimes face heavy opposition when they touch on hot topics like housing or public safety. The pushback can come in the form of politically connected groups rallying outside City Hall or hours of public comment meant to sway other board members. The mayor’s recent rezoning plan is a good example of a heavily fought-over ordinance that saw months of rallies and protests.
Resolutions, on the other hand, can pass through the chambers in a matter of weeks. Supervisors bring resolutions as a means of expression, such as showing support for a state bill. (They are also used by the board to accept contracts.) Examples include Mandelman’s resolution declaring July 22, 2025, as Lady Gaga Day and Sherrill’s resolution marking September as National Service Dog Month.
Mandelman was the most prolific in both ordinances and resolutions. Fielder, Walton, and Myrna Melgar were also passionate resolution makers. Sauter had the fewest, saying he was focused instead on lawmaking. As for the nonbinding stuff? He sees it as posturing: “San Franciscans deserve action rather than performance.”
Want to explore the board’s voting record? Click here (opens in new tab).