Breed gains another rival in competitive San Francisco mayoral race

Another prominent politician is throwing himself into San Francisco’s mayoral race, shaking up the already competitive contest and making Mayor London Breed’s reelection prospects more challenging. 

San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin told NBC Bay Area on Wednesday that he was planning on running for mayor. He will make an announcement at a rally in Chinatown on Saturday, which Politico confirmed.

“The politics of today are marked by blame and not taking responsibility. The buck stops with the mayor,” Peskin said. “And it’s time to inject a mature, collaborative discourse that’s befitting of San Francisco.”

Peskin adds a more progressive presence to the mix of mostly centrist Democrats vying for the position, including Breed, former Mayor Mark Farrell, San Francisco Supervisor Ahsha Safai, and nonprofit executive Daniel Lurie.

Breed recently introduced tougher measures to combat the city’s crime and drug problem, an approach Farrell and Lurie also share. Last month, San Francisco voters approved Breed’s less progressive measures that require welfare recipients to be screened for drug addiction before receiving payment and loosen restrictions on law enforcement. 

Safai distinguished himself from the pack when he came out against Breed’s Proposition E measure, which relieved some restrictions on law enforcement, telling the San Francisco Examiner, “I will have to stand on my own morals and beliefs.” 

While Peskin told Politico he supported arresting drug dealers, he doesn’t approve of punishing people suffering from addiction, citing his own struggles with alcoholism. 

“Aaron Peskin is synonymous with intimidation, obstruction, and dysfunction: literally the triple crown of moving San Francisco backwards,” Breed’s spokesman Joe Arellano said in a statement. 

“He is the person most-responsible for creating a city of haves and have nots, by limiting the amount of housing that gets built and freezing out young people from owning a home,” Arellano added. “He’s also a hypocrite — he masquerades as a progressive while owning hundreds of thousands of dollars in Amazon, CVS, and Bank of America stock and owning millions of dollars of property across town.”

Peskin reportedly admitted that the city was struggling, adding that, in terms of housing, he wanted the city to support construction while preserving the historic elements of its neighborhoods.

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“I am running because I love this City, and believe I have the tested experience and heart to get us through the tough times we’re up against,” Peskin told the Washington Examiner. “As to Breed’s attacks: I don’t have total recall, but I believe the last person we called ‘the Terminator’ went on to become Governor of California. I’m focused on getting the work done.”

Peskin is serving his fourth term on the city’s board of supervisors and told the San Francisco Standard last month that he is leaning on the city’s ranked choice voting system to clear a path to victory.