Campaign Watch

Leftier than thou Sup. Matt Gonzalez just jumped into the mayor's race, and already he's beginning to paint subtle distinctions between himself and leading progressive candidate Sup. Tom Ammiano. At an Aug. 20 debate hosted by local women's political groups in the San Francisco Main Library's Koret Auditorium, Gonzalez sounded what became his principal theme throughout the night: fiscally responsible progressive leadership.

Jumping into a highly technical explanation of why the city's business tax needs reforming, Gonzalez reminded the standing-room-only crowd that he and Sup. Chris Daly were among the three supervisors who voted against the approximately $80 million business-tax settlement in 2001. That was when a bevy of corporations sued to overturn the city's business-tax structure, and a majority of supervisors chose to settle rather than fight it out in court. Ammiano voted for the settlement, arguing that pursuing litigation would have been even more costly.

If it stung Ammiano – long the stalwart of the city's left on the board – to be called out as "less progressive," he didn't show it, but he subtly shifted his own campaign rhetoric as well, repeating several times at the debate that his record in office is the longest of all the candidates and that over time he has focused on the "widest breadth of issues."

Perhaps that was his quiet way of aiming back at the far less experienced Gonzalez, who owes his political rise in part to Ammiano's support, but it also raises doubts over whether the onetime board allies can work together to keep front-runner Sup. Gavin Newsom – who has the most money and the blessing of Mayor Willie Brown – out of City Hall's Room 200. (Rachel Brahinsky)

Not Green for Gonzo In a startling upset, Gonzalez has failed to get the endorsement of the San Francisco Green Party. Considering that Gonzalez was the first Green to get elected to the board and is seen by many as the leader of the party's growing movement in San Francisco, that's more than a little strange.

The local Green Party is by no means a political monolith – and the fight among its members reflects the bitter factionalism among progressives as they struggle to choose a favorite in a race in which three credible candidates are vying for their support.

While Gonzalez came out ahead in the vote, he couldn't quite capture 75 percent, the threshold required to get the party's official nod. Ammiano's supporters weren't willing to give up, and neither side was willing to go with a dual endorsement, but we'll see whether that holds when the party reconsiders its mayoral endorsement in early September.

The results in the other major San Francisco political battle on the November ballot, the district attorney's race, were clear-cut. Incumbent Terence Hallinan, a Democrat who's been dubbed "America's Most Progressive D.A.," took the official nod of the Green Party. (Savannah Blackwell)

Labor wars, part II Newsom has never been a champion of workers' rights during his six years on the Board of Supervisors. But he's making a real push to convince the voting public he's won significant support from labor unions anyway.

Attached to the candidate statement Newsom submitted to the San Francisco Department of Elections is a list of 22 union organizations that are supporting the Marina supervisor. But the vast majority of workers are behind Angela Alioto and Ammiano.

The organizations on Newsom's list represent about 10,000 union members. Alioto, on the other hand, has been endorsed by locals representing roughly 45,000 workers. That's because the largest union – Service Employees International Union Local 250, representing 15,000 people employed in the health care industry – has thrown its support to her. And the SEIU's umbrella organization, the Regional Council, endorsed her as well (see "Union Disunion," 5/21/03).

The story on the position of SEIU Local 790 – representing some 11,000 city employees – is a little more complicated. Newly elected 790 leaders close to Ammiano announced Aug. 21 that the union actually voted in April to endorse both Ammiano and Alioto. The new officers also voted to require the union to commit financial and human resources equally to the two candidates' election efforts (labor sources in Alioto's camp say an individual SEIU local cannot legally have a position different from that of the Regional Council).

Alioto and Ammiano would like to get the big labor brass ring: the endorsement of the San Francisco Labor Council, which presides over all city unions. In May, Alioto came close but fell short of the two-thirds requirement. Unless the council reconsiders and gets behind a candidate, the official Labor Neighbor program to provide foot soldiers and resources to a campaign will not be active in the mayor's race.

Meanwhile, labor heavies Larry Mazzola of the Plumbers Union, Josie Mooney of Local 790, and Sal Rosselli of Local 250 have demanded that Elections Department chief John Arntz sever the list of 22 unions from Newsom's statement. Why? The city agency required Alioto to supply a letter of support from each union confirming its commitment. Yet Newsom's file held only one such letter, from the San Francisco Firefighters, the union leaders say.

"We strongly object to this special treatment," the three stated in a Aug. 21 letter to Arntz.

Newsom spokesperson John Shanley did not return press calls by deadline. (Blackwell)