{"id":488828,"date":"2026-10-08T04:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/488828\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:50:08","slug":"luries-allies-ditched-manny-yekutiel-now-theyre-polling-his-comeback-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/488828\/","title":{"rendered":"Lurie\u2019s allies ditched Manny Yekutiel. Now they\u2019re polling his comeback odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s some striking polling circulating about the District 8 race and Manny Yekutiel, who dropped out<\/a> Thursday after The Standard published additional allegations of sexual assault against him, leaving Gary McCoy<\/a> as the presumed front-runner.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Manny Yekutiel were to resume his campaign, where would you rank him on your ballot, if at all?\u201d was one of the poll\u2019s questions. Another: \u201cMayor Lurie, as well as several members of the Board of Supervisors and other elected officials, withdrew their endorsements of Manny Yekutiel after the latest allegations against him. Knowing this, where would you rank Manny Yekutiel on your ballot, if at all?\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s behind it? Power Play can confirm the poll is the work of GrowSF, a well-resourced moderate group allied with Mayor Daniel Lurie. GrowSF\u2019s spokesperson, Max Szabo, who also serves as the mayor\u2019s political consultant, confirmed the poll\u2019s provenance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not backing any candidate in District 8, but we want to understand where voters are at after such a substantial shake-up,\u201d said GrowSF Director Steven Bacio in a statement. \u201cGary McCoy was trailing by over 30 points, he doesn\u2019t get to crown himself supervisor \u2014 the voters get to decide whose vision should represent the district.\u201d (In addition to Lurie and others, GrowSF pulled its endorsement of Yekutiel.)<\/p>\n

The poll raises major questions: Would Yekutiel consider reentering the contest? Could he win despite the allegations, given that he\u2019s still on the ballot? Is anyone still supporting him? And what does it mean for McCoy, who, until recently, appeared to be trailing Yekutiel?<\/p>\n

Yekutiel, who has denied the assault allegations, did not respond to a request for comment, and his spokesperson said the campaign\u2019s status remains firmly suspended.<\/p>\n

Catie Stewart, McCoy\u2019s campaign spokesperson, stopped short of ringing the \u201cshame (opens in new tab)<\/a>\u201d bell for GrowSF, but just barely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf GrowSF wants to light money on fire in support of someone who\u2019s been credibly accused of sexual assault by three people, that\u2019s their right,\u201d she said. \u201cBut voters at the doors and in the neighborhood \u2014 including every single former Manny voter we speak to \u2014 are no longer voting for him. Our campaign, and the voters of District 8, have been crystal clear that we believe and stand with survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n

An earlier poll hints at why GrowSF is testing the waters: When the group called and texted District 8 residents Aug. 8-13, Yekutiel was leading with a blockbuster 47%. McCoy polled at 15%, patent attorney Michael Nguyen at 12%, and former DoorDash staffer Darshini Patel at 2%. Notably, that poll was conducted about six weeks after the first assault allegation against Yekutiel, brought by Brad Joseph Chapin, and was upfront about the claim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So will GrowSF\u2019s newest poll show support for Yekutiel staying strong?<\/p>\n

If it does, there\u2019s a fair chance that generational attitudes in the gay community may be behind that support. In an editorial for progressive outlet 48 Hills (opens in new tab)<\/a>, editor Marke B. wrote that \u201cyes, groping can be sexual assault \u2014 even for gay men.\u201d But the reason he wrote it in the first place was the outpouring of sentiment he heard at the Folsom and Castro Street Fairs dismissing the sexual assault claims as a \u201cgenerational thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

So if young gay men tend to view groping as assault, and older gay men are less inclined to, Power Play would posit: Who are the most likely voters in nonpresidential elections? The answer: older voters.<\/p>\n

Meaning that, crazy as it sounds, Yekutiel may still have a shot.\u00a0 \u2014 Gabriel Greschler and Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez<\/p>\n

ELECTION SPEND: In just the last two weeks, the PAC bankrolled by billionaire <\/a>Chris Larsen<\/a> has spent more than $100,000 in the District 10 race supporting Theo Ellington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

About two-thirds was for Facebook ads \u2014 mainly videos featuring community members praising Ellington, including Cedric Akbar, a Democratic Party member, and Tyra Fennell, a community advocate and former London Breed staffer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ellington-aligned PAC has 14 active Facebook ads, all purchased in the last week. It also ran a few print ads in newspapers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The PAC received a $500,000 donation from Larsen in early September and an additional $40,000 from him last week. Larsen has put millions of dollars this election year toward \u00a0Lurie\u2019s political causes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ellington is endorsed by Lurie and is an ally to the mayor\u2019s vision<\/a> for San Francisco. \u2014 Omar Rashad\u00a0<\/p>\n

CAT GOT BECERRA\u2019S TONGUE: Democrat Xavier Becerra, the front-runner for governor, took questions from reporters during a campaign event this week in San Francisco. It was a rare moment for the former Health and Human Services secretary, who has taken flak from Republican opponent Steve Hilton for avoiding the press. (Hilton recently accused him of going into \u201chiding\u201d after the June primary.)<\/p>\n

But even when Becerra makes time to speak with journalists, his answers aren\u2019t revealing much about his campaign strategy or how he\u2019s preparing to govern. Highlights from his SF stop:<\/p>\n

Does he support Gov. Gavin Newsom calling a legislative special session over AI\u2019s safety risks? \u201cl\u2019ll be ready on Day One, regardless of what things look like, regardless of what gets done between now \u2026 and Jan. 4, 2027. We\u2019re going to have to tackle this. I\u2019m not sure how much would or would not be done during a special session, but if the governor and the legislators are ready to go, let\u2019s tackle this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has he spoken to Newsom about a possible special session? \u201cIt\u2019s been a little while since I spoke to him about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s his reaction to Hilton\u2019s spicy new ad (opens in new tab)<\/a> (which is laden with sexual innuendo and drew criticism from all sides)? \u201cDo you need me to respond to any of that?\u201d \u2014 Dustin Gardiner<\/p>\n

FRIENDS LIKE THESE: Well, a press conference to support embattled SF Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung seems to have been a bust.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The presser, scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday at Hong Kong Lounge on Geary Boulevard, was ostensibly meant to show support for Tung after Supervisor Connie Chan and others called for her to resign<\/a>. The outcry follows controversy over the party\u2019s Flock Safety resolution vote and the public apology Tung gave for endorsing Yekutiel despite Chapin\u2019s sexual assault claim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 11 a.m., a rumor started to swirl that the press conference was canceled. But no one connected to it confirmed the cancellation \u2014 all feigned ignorance. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, the only people who showed up for Tung at Hong Kong Lounge were protesters \u2014 \u00a0 seven of them, including City Hall legislative aide Natalie Gee (with her adorable baby in tow) and Democratic Party Regional Chair Hene Kelly, a progressive union activist who has worked with the party for nearly five decades (opens in new tab)<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have worked with Nancy Tung for a long time trying to get her to help Democrats here,\u201d Kelly said, \u201cbut she doesn\u2019t care about the people in San Francisco; she cares about herself. She cares about people with money.\u201d<\/p>\n

So were the Dems scared off by a handful of prog rabble-rousers? Tung said she didn\u2019t know about the presser, and no one else Power Play reached would talk.\u00a0Only the restaurant itself confirmed that the party of 20 for 1 p.m. had canceled. <\/p>\n

One thing is certain: If and when Tung runs for district attorney (opens in new tab)<\/a> again \u2014 which has long been rumored as her motivation for chairing the party \u2014 the controversies of recent months will resurface. \u2014 J.F.R.<\/p>\n

PELOSI\u2019S PLEA TO DEMS: Nancy Pelosi is imploring Democrats in San Francisco and across the country to protest peacefully in the lead-up to the Nov. 3 election. The former House speaker said she doesn\u2019t want her party to give President Donald Trump any excuse to abuse the powers of his office.<\/p>\n

\u201cContain what you\u2019re doing peacefully, because if he has the slightest [hint] of an uproar, he\u2019ll try to [declare] an insurrection,\u201d Pelosi told Power Play. \u201cSo let\u2019s be who we are, speak out about what we want. But do it in a way that does not invite his chaos, cruelty, insanity \u2014 whatever you call that.\u201d \u2014 D.G.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s some striking polling circulating about the District 8 race and Manny Yekutiel, who dropped out Thursday after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[37945,8670,1525,204,98079,33793,13,4637,45070,101,87859,87153,103,102,104,106,105,37511],"class_list":["post-488828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-2026-election","tag-connie-chan","tag-democratic-party","tag-election","tag-election-2024","tag-manny-yekutiel","tag-politics","tag-power-play","tag-primary-election","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-democratic-county-central-committee","tag-san-francisco-democratic-party","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-sf-reality-check"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}