The November election is almost upon us. But there’s another City Hall race going on quietly behind the scenes: the Board of Supervisors presidency.
Yes, we know it’s early — and much could change before January, when the vote is held — but there are already a handful of contestants likely to throw their hats in the ring.
Sources tell Power Play that Supervisors Myrna Melgar and Matt Dorsey are the most likely candidates. A quick refresher: The position, to be voted on after the new supervisors are elected to the board in November’s election, requires six votes. The powers of the presidency include committee assignments (which can turn spicy), referring legislation to committees, waiving 30-day holds on legislation, and becoming city leader if something happens to the mayor.
Long story short: A bad relationship with the board president can really mess with a supervisor’s policy priorities.
While the topic may sound insider-y, sources say the outcome of January’s vote will have sizable consequences for the relationship between the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Daniel Lurie — and the vibes at City Hall. Current Board President Rafael Mandelman has had a mostly warm-and-fuzzy relationship with Lurie — a dynamic the mayor has trumpeted as part of his overall kumbaya ethos. That’s in stark contrast to the dynamic between the board and former Mayor London Breed, which was, let’s just say, a bit chilly. Former board presidents included progressives Aaron Peskin and Shamann Walton, who had icy relationships with Breed.
There’s agreement that a Melgar presidency could mean more of a testy relationship between the legislature and Room 200. Melgar has teamed up with Lurie on certain matters, such as the Family Zoning Plan, but she has also said the board is too deferential to him (opens in new tab). Dorsey, on the other hand, could be more of a continuation of Mandelman’s tenure.
This is how one source framed it: “Do you want to keep it more collegial and cooperative — or do you think it’s time to hold these people accountable and revert to prior ways of doing business?”
There’s still a lot of time for something wacky to happen. The Nov. 3 election could mean a fairly different-looking Board of Supervisors come January: Will Supervisor Connie Chan win a seat in Congress, creating an opening the mayor could fill? And who will win the District 8 and District 10 seats? All of that is part of the equation as to who will win the presidency.
There’s also the potential for other candidates to jump in: Some mentioned by City Hall insiders are Danny Sauter and Chyanne Chen, both of whom are considered primarily coalition builders, though both are still early in their tenures. “I think Danny is a dark horse. Least harm to the most people. Most liked. Least distrust,” said one source.
“What I think a good board president should exhibit is an interest in what is best for the Board of Supervisors as a whole,” said Peskin. “I get that mayors are much better known than a body of people who have 11 members. But the leader of that body needs to care about how that body is perceived.”
Melgar declined to comment. In an interview, Dorsey confirmed he has been speaking to other supervisors and Lurie’s staff about the role. “I bring a mix of seniority and temperament,” he told Power Play. — Gabriel Greschler
$50,000 OOPSIE: San Francisco voters recently saw something unexpected on their screens: ads for a Republican congressperson who lives more than 100 miles north.
GOP Rep. James Gallagher’s campaign spent $50,000 to run streaming video ads exclusively in San Francisco, according to Google’s ads transparency center (opens in new tab). The spots aired on Google’s platforms for 35 days, netting about 2.5 million impressions.
Mark Harris, a spokesperson for Gallagher, said campaign officials “identified an unacceptable error by a vendor and have been refunded for it.” He added, “The campaign has taken appropriate steps to ensure an error of this kind does not happen again.”
The Republican is running to hold onto his seat in Northern California’s 1st District. Gallagher was sworn in this summer to succeed the late GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa, but Democrat Mike McGuire is widely expected to flip the seat after the district was gerrymandered to favor his party.
The redrawn 1st District is sprawling, stretching from blue areas of the Sonoma Coast to deep-red pockets of the Sierra. While Gallager is mounting a spirited campaign, he’s received little outside help from Republican leadership. — Dustin Gardiner
VOTER GUIDE: We read the fine print so you don’t have to: The Standard’s 2026 Voter Guide (opens in new tab) is a nonpartisan, no-BS walkthrough of every race and proposition on your San Francisco ballot. Check it out and build your own sample ballot for Election Day.
CULTURAL RECKONING: Painful, sometimes heated conversations have opened in local queer and gay communities following the sexual assault allegations that led Manny Yekutiel to suspend (or end?) his District 8 Board of Supervisors campaign, centered around the notion that gay men have a different, more relaxed “threshold” over what they consider sexual assault. This month, 48Hills publisher Marke B. wrote a moving, and at times scathing essay, “Yes, groping can be sexual assault — even for gay men (opens in new tab),” recounting being groped as a young man in ways that shocked him. Next came Mission Local’s Andres Jimenez Larios with “Gay men in S.F. say consent isn’t different for them. But some act like it is (opens in new tab),” which traced the evolution of “looks, nods and body language” used discreetly in place of verbal consent. And Tuesday, the LGBTQ+-focused Bay Area Reporter’s John Ferrannini wrote “Yekutiel scandal leads to discussions about consent (opens in new tab),” which noted from sources that even by the perhaps different norms of the gay community, the word “no” still commands respect. Notably, all three of Yekutiel’s accusers claim they asked him to stop the unwelcome groping, touching, or painful twisting of body parts, and he allegedly did not stop.
The cultural conversation is ongoing, and we want to help facilitate it. To that end, The San Francisco Standard is partnering with the SF LGBT Center to present a conversation with advocates and nightlife leaders about consent, accountability, and what it will take to change how queer communities respond to sexual assault. Join us (opens in new tab) Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. at 1800 Market St. It’s free. — Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez
REMINGTON’S REVENGE: Ralph Remington, former director of cultural affairs for the San Francisco Arts Commission, took to Substack on Friday morning from his new home in Panama to vent over the circumstances surrounding his controversial exit. He went scorched-earth on nearly everyone involved, from his replacement, Matthew Goudeau, to Lurie, to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“Lurie was largely surrounded by entitled tech bros and billionaires who thought that they knew things by virtue of their proximity to knowledge in certain areas,” he wrote.
When Remington announced his retirement in February, he told KQED he was stepping aside to “support the future objectives and vision of Mayor Lurie’s combined arts and culture department.” His essay Friday was decidedly blunter.
“No one showed me the door but Lurie’s underlings made restructuring maneuvers and it was clear that they were pushing me out,” he wrote.
He dismissed Goudeau as a hire with “a very thin arts résumé” and called him “a lord in waiting.”
In May, Jen Atwood, a program officer with the Arts Commission, filed a whistleblower complaint against Remington, telling commissioners she hadn’t seen him in “the past two months, outside of the hour before commission meetings.” The Standard, which first reported his absence, spoke with two other employees who backed her account. The Chronicle also covered (opens in new tab) the story.
Remington, who was silent at the time, now says he had a deal to work remotely for his final four months while handing off duties to his deputies. The Chronicle reported Friday (opens in new tab) that it had confirmed Remington had an agreement with the city to work remotely one day a week starting in July 2025; Remington told the Chronicle he later made a verbal agreement with city officials to work remotely full time.
In his essay, Remington saved his sharpest words for the Chronicle and for those who spoke out against him. Power Play reached out to the Chronicle but didn’t hear back.
“The press, led by the San Francisco Chronicle, couldn’t wait to lazily grab onto a fake story of absent six-figure earning leadership,” he wrote. “Especially when the white laid off employee took all of the above misinformation to the media, along with her white female union shop steward.”
“Karens strike back!”
Read the full essay here (opens in new tab). — Sam Mondros
BALL GAME … OR CIVICS? Are you a San Francisco political obsessive, or curious about becoming one, who doesn’t give a fig about sports? Bummed that everyone else you know will be spending Monday evening watching either the 49ers (5:15 p.m., Levi’s Stadium) or the Valkyries in Game 2 of the WNBA finals (5:00 p.m., Chase Arena)?
Good news! Former District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio has relaunched his popular “SF Politics 101″ presentation (opens in new tab), now hosted at SPUR’s headquarters in the South of Market district. “I’ve made it entertaining, and there’s a point of view,” Engardio tells PowerPlay. “The last 10 minutes I do the Sunset Dunes case study,” he says, referring to the years-long imbroglio that resulted last year in Engardio’s recall — and all sorts of other political contretemps — for his role in closing a portion of the Great Highway to vehicular traffic.
Reopening that scenic road is on the ballot yet again Nov. 3 in the form of Proposition G. Expect Engardio to be every bit as vociferous against that measure as the most fanatical Niners and Valks fans will be Monday night for their teams. His civics course begins at 5:30 p.m. and lasts about an hour. Reserve your place here (opens in new tab). — Adam Lashinsky