Fortunes turned suddenly for the front-runners in the race to be the next city supervisor for District 2, which includes the Marina, Cow Hollow, the Presidio, Pacific Heights, and beyond (such as the Cathedral Hill neighborhood and Sea Cliff).

Those front-runners are Janet Reilly, well known in the political landscape, and San Francisco small business owner Mark Farrell.

Janet Reilly is married to political consultant Clint Reilly, who once worked on Gavin Newsom’s mayoral campaign. If he is giving her any advice on the campaign, she won’t reveal any of it.

The incumbent, Michela Alioto-Pier, registered to run for re-election on June 3. But City Attorney Dennis Herrera said she was ineligible because, after two terms, she was termed-out. She objected because she has served for seven years. The charter, she contends, indicates that she is entitled to hold office for two full four-year terms.

Alioto-Pier was appointed by Mayor Newsom when he became mayor. Prior to his election, he was the District 2 supervisor.

But it caught many by surprise last month when San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter Bush abrogated Hererra’s decision. All will agree the matter is unprecedented.

It’s a sticky business. It got stickier when Herrera announced on July 28 that he would appeal the court’s decision. With that, Alioto-Pier says she will proceed with her re-election campaign at a full-court press, regardless of what the city attorney does.

“This really doesn’t faze us that much,” Alioto-Pier’s campaign manager Tom Hsieh said. “We don’t think the appeal will succeed.”

Janet Reilly said, “This is unsettling news, but we plan to continue the campaign. I think the appeal has a good chance of working, but who can say right now?”

“I have no idea why Dennis is so adamant on this issue,” said Alioto-Pier. “But when he says that he wants to protect the interest of the voters in San Francisco, why doesn’t he just let the voters decide what they want?”

She demurred when asked if there was a political purpose in Herrera’s actions.

Let’s face it: The whole miasma smacks of politics. There is a certain irony that Herrera was elected to a third term. These statues are bound to confound the most savvy of political watchers. For example, Alioto-Pier mentions that Chris Daly and Sophie Maxwell both served 10 years on the board. This while term limits were being imposed.

Alioto-Pier was running for state insurance commissioner before she was taken ill and hospitalized for two months. She said that her disability – she has been in a wheelchair since a skiing accident when she was 13 years old – complicated her medical condition. It was a stubborn infection attributed to an accidental gash in her leg.

Alioto-Pier’s aspiration to state office signaled the go-ahead for others to run for the supervisorial position. When she abandoned her bid for insurance commissioner and filed for re-election to the Board of Supervisors, Superior Court Judge Bush’s ruling threw a spanner in the works.

“It puts us all in a difficult position,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom. “I put my support behind Janet Reilly, so did a lot of other people like Nancy Pelosi. It makes us all a little uncomfortable.”

“So what if they’re uncomfortable?” responded Alioto-Pier. “We’re elected officials. We’re not supposed to remain in a comfort zone all the time.”

Reilly is pleased to say that she has been endorsed by Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Kamala Harris, and the mayor.

“I’m interested in working for District 2,” said Reilly, who lives in Sea Cliff, “because we need to get our fiscal house in order. I’m sure you see the empty storefronts on Fillmore and on Union Streets. There are quality-of-life issues at stake. We have to take care of our beautiful parks and open spaces. They’re in jeopardy because we don’t have the funds to take care of it.”

Alioto-Pier said, “Getting names of people to endorse you is all very nice, but what really counts is what the residents of the district have to say.”

Mark Farrell, who is on friendly terms with Alioto-Pier, said that as a businessman he could help the merchants who are struggling in the district. He also would like to help revitalize a flagging local economy. Farrell is a managing director of Quest Hospitality Ventures, which helps fund high-tech companies that work with hotels and restaurants.

“We are spending money in San Francisco that we don’t have,” he asserted. “We’re facing a $700 billion deficit next year. We have to invest in small businesses. They are the backbone of this community. I also want to make this city friendly for families again. It’s such an important part of our diversity.”

All three candidates seem to have family concerns in common. Farrell’s wife, Liz, writes a column for the Marina Times called “Caring for Our Kids.”

Alioto-Pier is certainly not without resources to mount her re-election campaign.

According to the San Francisco Ethics Commission, Mark Farrell has raised $160,914 as of July. In June, Janet Reilly reported she had raised $141,642 for her campaign. Marina resident and fellow candidate Kat Anderson has raised $7,870 as of a July filing, but has $31,480 through 4:1 matched public funding.

Other declared candidates as of press time include Abraham Simmons, Barbara Ann Berwick and Vilma Guinto Peoro.