Out SF Education Candidates Fall Short

The four out candidates running for education posts in San Francisco all came up short in Tuesday's election.

Thus, the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education will continue to lack an LGBT member. The last person from the city's LGBT community to serve on the school board left office in early January 2009.

And the San Francisco Community College Board of Trustees will see its LGBT members be reduced from two to one due to the departure of gay trustee Lawrence Wong, who opted not to seek re-election this year. Neither of the gay men running for college board seats won their races this week.

Gay activist Dan Choi, one of seven people running in the race for three four-year seats on the college board, landed in last place with 5.67 percent of the vote. Incumbent board member Anita Grier also came up short, according to unofficial returns Wednesday morning, landing in fourth place with 15.66 percent of the vote.

Haight neighborhood leader Thea Selby was in first place with 18.42 percent of the vote and Brigitte Davila was in second with 17.37 percent. Holding on to his seat in third place was incumbent trustee John Rizzo with 16.22 percent.
College board candidate William Walker was defeated in Tuesday's election. Photo: Courtesy William Walker

In the race for a two-year term on the college board, to fill a vacancy created when former trustee Chris Jackson resigned, gay former student college board trustee William Walker fell short. He landed in second place with 39.27 percent of the vote behind first-place finisher Amy Bacharach, who had 45.65 percent of the vote.

"Second time wasn't a charm, but I have a very loving family, a rewarding and challenging career, and I live in one of the best places on earth," Walker wrote on his Facebook page early Wednesday morning. "The college board for the first time in my memorable life, will not have African American representation. I think the college has a very tough task at hand in regard to serving underrepresented communities with scarce resources while changing its culture to really address issues of equity for CCSF students."

SF School Board

In the race for three seats on the school board, incumbents Emily Murase, with 18.80 percent of the vote, and Hydra Mendoza, with 12.11 percent of the vote, and challenger Shamann Walton, with 16.05 percent, were the top three finishers as of Wednesday morning.
San Francisco school board candidate Mark Murphy was defeated in Tuesday's election. Photo: Peter Menchini

But with thousands of ballots still be counted in San Francisco, those results could change. Stevon Cook, with 11.52 percent, and Trevor McNeil, with 11.89 percent, are still within fighting chance of winning a seat.

The additional ballot votes will not help the two out contenders. Mark Murphy, a gay man who is a communications and marketing consultant, ended up in last place among the nine candidates. Making his first bid for public office, Murphy received 6.12 percent of the vote.

"It is a really challenging venture running for the school board," said Murphy in a phone interview Wednesday morning. "I am extremely proud of the work I did in my first campaign and the support I did get last night."

In eighth place was Jamie Rafaela Wolfe, a transgender woman who works at a nonprofit school for children with emotional and developmental issues. She netted 6.37 percent of the vote in her second bid for a school board seat.

"Meeting so many people was a pleasure and an honor. I am hoping to have some personal space after this," Wolfe said Tuesday night, adding that she was "thrilled with the campaign I ran."