SAN FRANCISCO — Former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi has endorsed San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston, a progressive lightning rod, as he faces a troublesome reelection problem in an area race that has drawn the eye of different nationwide figures from Elon Musk to Bernie Sanders.
The endorsement comes as Preston, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has confronted an onslaught of assaults from political advocacy teams, bankrolled by tech traders, who’re essential of his opposition to tough-on-crime insurance policies. These teams are spending closely to again Bilal Mahmood, a reasonable Democrat, tech entrepreneur and former Obama administration staffer.
Final fall, Preston gained nationwide consideration after billionaire provocateur Musk called for his imprisonment for supporting an ordinance to ban safety guards from utilizing firearms to forestall theft. Musk additionally urged he would spend $100,000 to defeat Preston. It’s unclear if he has spent any cash on the race.
Pelosi’s camp completely confirmed to POLITICO that she has endorsed Preston and can vote for him Wednesday night time, when the County Democratic Social gathering’s central committee makes its picks in native races. San Francisco’s supervisors are equal to metropolis council members, shaping native coverage and the finances. The put up has lengthy been a launching pad for the state’s political up-and-comers who’ve risen to larger prominence, together with the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Sen. Scott Wiener.
“It is a highly effective endorsement from considered one of San Francisco’s strongest leaders, and I look ahead to working with Speaker Emerita Pelosi in our united effort to defeat Donald Trump,” Preston mentioned in a press release.
Preston represents a deeply liberal district that features the Haight Ashbury, Fillmore, Japantown, Hayes Valley and Tenderloin neighborhoods. His different opponents within the November election embrace activists Autumn Looijen and Allen Jones.
Pelosi, typically a reasonable Democrat by San Francisco requirements, has a protracted sample of endorsing incumbents from each the celebration’s extra progressive and centrist wings.
It’s a balancing act Pelosi has continued whilst moderate-backed candidates have swept a number of native races by seizing on voters’ frustrations over homeless encampments, report drug overdose deaths and rampant retail theft. Mahmood — Preston’s predominant challenger — is a part of a slate of reasonable Democrats who not too long ago received management of the county celebration.
However, Pelosi’s endorsement is a stinging rebuke for reasonable teams who’ve spent closely to attempt to defeat Preston and help Mahmood.
The supervisor’s race may present a bellwether for political observers watching if San Francisco’s pivot to the proper continues. Within the March major, voters handed a number of tough-on-crime measures, together with a proposal to require drug screening for native welfare recipients.
Mahmood has disavowed Musk and mentioned he hasn’t obtained any cash from him within the race. He has tried to painting himself as a extra pragmatic Democrat.
Musk, who not too long ago vowed to maneuver a few of his firms’ operations out of San Francisco, posted on X final fall that Preston “ought to go to jail.”
Preston has referred to as Musk a “billionaire fascist” and vowed to now not use X, the billionaire’s firm previously often called Twitter. Quickly after, Vermont Sen. Sanders, a fellow Democratic socialist, endorsed Preston and urged progressives throughout the nation to help him.
