When Mayor Daniel Lurie swore in Alan Wong on Monday as the new District 4 supervisor after a complicated, game show-like process, the political ascent of the 38-year-old former labor organizer was greeted with delight by many — and misgivings from some of Wong’s former labor supporters.
Wong, who got his start in politics through unions, is now on shaky ground with organized labor in San Francisco after a schism earlier this year over his pick for City College chancellor, according to seven people close to San Francisco unions.
Labor’s backing will be critical as Wong runs to keep the District 4 seat in a special election on June 2, 2026. Last year, unions spent a collective $1.19 million on backing their favored district supervisor candidates, and another $914,136 against those candidates’ opponents.
Already, many unions are expected to back Wong’s progressive rival Natalie Gee, an active member of the IFPTE Local 21 and a former labor organizer, which could mean more labor money and volunteers flowing toward Gee.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Wong grew up around unions. After his family moved to San Francisco from Hong Kong, Wong’s father worked as a unionized hotel chef with UNITE HERE Local 2. In 2013, Wong began working as a labor organizer for SEIU UHW, a union for hospital workers. In 2019, he became a legislative aide for Gordon Mar, himself a former labor organizer, who was the supervisor for District 4 at the time.
San Francisco’s Sunset District welcomes its new supervisor Alan Wong on Dec. 1, 2025. Photo by Yujie Zhou.
After his election to the City College Board of Trustees in 2020, Wong was a consistent supporter of AFT 2121, the union for City College faculty. In 2024, during his reelection bid, he was their sole endorsee, even though there were 10 candidates vying for four seats.
But a fissure came when Wong broke with the union over its choice for City College’s next chancellor.
The City College union wanted Carlos Cortez, the former chancellor of San Diego’s Community College District. Cortez had several public controversies, though, including an arrest for allegedly driving under the influence in Florida in January 2024. Cortez later told the San Francisco Chronicle that it was due to “a mixture of prescription medicine” and he pleaded no contest to the reduced charge of reckless driving.
Ahead of the City College board’s May decision about Cortez, unions made their position clear: “This is part of a broader attack on labor,” said Rosa Shields, the political director at the San Francisco Labor Council, at the time. “We will not forget this vote.”
But Wong went against them. After a closed session on May 29, word got back to labor that Wong had not supported Cortez’s candidacy. Two weeks later, the board selected Kimberlee Messina, president of Spokane Falls Community College in Washington.
The union was furious. “We voted to put you in this seat to help lead our college in a good direction,” AFT 2121 President Mary Bravewoman said during public comment after the closed session, pointing toward union members gathered in the back of the room. “What the actual fuck?”
The vote damaged Wong’s relationship with the union, and, potentially, the rest of the labor community. On issues related to City College, other city unions take their cue from AFT 2121. When Wong was elected as City College trustee in 2020 and re-elected in 2024 with what, on paper, appeared to be broad labor backing, that support was partially contingent on the perspective of AFT 2121.
Wong, for his part, declined to talk about his vote for chancellor due to confidentiality. “What I can say is that I have always been someone that cares about working people,” Wong said, listing his many ties with labor.
“I’m always open to work with anybody and maintain my labor relationship,” Wong said. “Sometimes, there can be fissures. But by the end of the day, we are all here for working people.”
San Francisco’s Sunset District welcomes its new supervisor Alan Wong on Dec. 1, 2025. Photo by Yujie Zhou.
Wong’s ascent from labor
Multiple union sources told Mission Local that the coming months are key: They will be closely observing the decisions Wong makes, like his position on public employee layoffs during a tough budget season and whether he supports labor’s ballot measure to tax CEOs.
In his first board meeting on Tuesday, Wong voted in favor of the plan to upzone San Francisco, which was highly criticized by progressives in the city, including many unions.
“We will be closely monitoring how he carries out his responsibilities to the residents of District 4 in the weeks and months ahead,” read a statement from Jennie Smith-Camejo, a spokesperson for SEIU Local 1021, which endorsed Wong in both 2020 and 2024 when he ran for City College Board of Trustees.
In that 2024 race, Wong was backed by 24 unions, including City College’s faculty’s union AFT 2121; the United Educators of San Francisco, which represents public school teachers; and San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 798. The 24 unions collectively spent $13,999 to back him. In 2020, Wong received $6,749 from 14 unions.
Alan Wong holds a sign saying “meet a D4 finalist here!” outside of an event at Wah Mei School on Nov. 21, 2025. Photo by Io Yeh Gilman.
It helped: Wong was the best-funded candidate in both the 2020 and 2024 City College board races. He was also endorsed by AFT 2121 both years — without which he would not have had universal union support. Moving forward, that broad union support is now uncertain.
In an interview, AFT 2121 president Bravewoman declined to comment on whether the union would support Wong in next year’s District 4 election.
“I think that will play out in future elections,” she said, adding that her present focus was on whom Lurie will appoint to replace Wong on the City College board.
“What the Board of Supervisors is gaining, City College is losing,” she said, adding that Wong had been very supportive of labor in the past. Though multiple sources said Wong had lost her union’s trust, Bravewoman was sanguine about Wong: His support was key for the union “winning a fair contract in the last round of negotiations,” she said.
“Without his advocacy, we may not have been able to get that contract completed without having to go through a full impasse and possibly on strike.”
Wong was also the sole vote against City College faculty layoffs in 2022, and supported the ultimately unsuccessful Proposition O, a parcel tax to fund City College programs.
“We are hopeful that Alan is successful in his seat on the Board of Supervisors,” Bravewoman said, “and we’re hoping that he will continue to be a champion for City College.”