Progressive Preston Concedes to Mahmood in SF Election

San Francisco’s most progressive leader, Supervisor Dean Preston, has conceded a loss to moderate challenger Bilal Mahmood in the most expensive supervisor race in town.

Preston tipped his hat to Mahmood, who in ranked-choice voter preferences Sunday led by 52.7 percent to Preston’s 47.3 percent in District 5, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Though the District 5 incumbent led in first-place votes at 40.9 percent to Mahmood’s 39.8 percent, the latter is very likely to win.

“We can’t win every battle, but we’ll continue the fight,” Preston told his supporters via Instagram.

Preston, whose district includes the Tenderloin, Haight-Ashbury and Western Addition, was the most left-wing supervisor on the board, with a reputation for combating development.

Two years ago, political moderates tied to tech began working to oust the progressive supervisor who had backed a building vacancy tax and helped kill a 500-unit housing project.

Mahmood, who served on the staff of the Obama administration, in 2022 lost his bid for the California Assembly.

Mahmood told the Chronicle on Sunday he’s “excited to govern with a unity coalition.

“It’s a culmination of what we have seen this whole time that the district wanted change, they wanted unity and a progressive who gets results and delivers on progressive values,” Mahmood told the newspaper. “They felt that a change was necessary to achieve those goals. That’s what we’re looking to deliver.”

The District 5 race was the most expensive supervisor contest, with more than

$1.5 million raised by all candidates, including public financing.

Mahmood, who lives in the Tenderloin, raised more than $496,000 and was aided by GrowSF’s “Dump Dean” political action committee, which raised nearly $300,000. Preston raised more than $511,000.

Unions, tenant groups and national leaders such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Bernie Sanders had backed Preston.

But the support wasn’t enough to carry the Democratic socialist whose district was the epicenter of the drug and homelessness crisis.

Preston, a former tenants’ rights attorney, ran as a champion of renters who would tackle fentanyl overdoses by opening supervised injection sites, while pumping money into more street teams to help with homelessness and addiction, according to the Chronicle.

He also touted his push for a public bank and affordable housing.

Mahmood had promised to cut red tape for housing development, support arrests of drug dealers and cut homelessness through more shelters, data and coordination at City Hall.

He attacked Preston for his adversarial relationship with the police and for not backing market-rate housing projects, including a proposal at a former car wash on Divisadero Street. He also attacked Preston for not being collegial while on the board.