Breaking: Leno endorses SanchezJust got word that state Assemblymember (and Senator-elect) Mark Leno is going to endorse School Board member Mark Sanchez for supervisor in District 9. "We've got his endorsement," Sanchez just told me by phone. "We're putting out the press release today."
That makes two Green Party members the Democratic lawmaker is backing; he's also endorsed Ross Mirkarimi in D5. Good for Leno not to let the irrational fear of Greens that so many Democrats harbor influence him; this is, after all, a nonpartisan race.
It's a tough choice in D9 -- Sanchez, Police Commission member David Campos and housing activist Eric Quezada are all good progressives and any of the three would be a great supervisor. Quezada, I think, never had much of a chance with Leno; he's pretty close to Sup. Chris Daly, who was a strong backer of Carole Migden in the bitter Migden-Leno senate race. Campos is close to Sup. Tom Ammiano, who was neutral in the Leno-Migden brawl -- but Campos, who is on the Democratic County Central Committee, voted for Aaron Peskin as chair. Leno's candidate (and he was pusing him hard) was Scott Weiner, who narrowly lost.
Quezada also ran for DCCC, but didn't win.
Sanchez, as a Green, was able to stay out of both the Migden-Leno fight and the Peskin-Weiner contest. Oddly enough, not being a Democrat may have helped him here.
Campos, by taking the stand he thought was right and voting for Peskin (despite immense pressure), may have scotched any chance of getting Leno's endorsement. "That's politics," he told me. Yes, it is.
(UPDATE: Sanchez corrects me: He endorsed Leno for state Senate months before the election. So the Leno endorsement is even less of a surprise.)
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Comments (2)
I think Leno endorsed Sanchez because as President of the Board of Education, Sanchez has been in a position to work with Leno on state budget battles. This is particularly true with educational issues. Sanchez also has the experience of serving in elected office.
Posted by Erika | August 10, 2008 02:39 PM
And Sanchez has brought together an historically fractious SFUSD Board that had been a bad joke for so long, and as President of the Board of Education, has hired a collaborative Superintendent and led the successful Prop A campaign which will raise teachers salaries.
Interesting that once Ackerman resigned, that nobody hears any more about progressive/moderate factions on the SFUSD Board even though the Chronicle massacred forests to try to blame Sanchez for the disharmony.
This is a record of accomplishment and real world transformational leadership that is simply unparalleled by any others in the D9 field and would be most welcome at the Board of Supervisors.
-marc
Posted by marc | August 11, 2008 11:50 AM