Former San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin is seeking to reclaim his District Three seat and return to City Hall. His move to challenge incumbent Julie Christensen has already set off a high-stakes and heated battle between the moderate and left-wing political forces in city government. Christensen was appointed to the seat by Mayor Ed Lee after its previous occupant, David Chiu, was elected to the state Assembly.
The Chronicle’s Matier & Ross reported in April that Mayor Lee “grew a set of fangs” when he warned business, tech, and labor leaders that if Peskin wins the seat it would be a return to “the days of drunken calls at midnight.” One Lee ally who has already stiffed the mayor is Chinatown powerbroker Rose Pak, who has thrown her influence behind Peskin. Though she has raised more than a quarter million dollars for Lee’s reelection, she has broken with him over his choice of Christensen; she had wanted him instead to appoint an Asian-American candidate of her choice.
The District Three race is likely to be the most-watched supervisor race this year, one that puts the political balance of the board in play at a time when the city is dealing with strong population and economic growth while trying to address housing affordability problems.
