But Mar’s defeat is a cause for concern among some Asian leaders in San Francisco — regardless of their politics. The usual tribalism in this city pits left-leaning progressives against centrist moderates. In that framework, Mar is seen as a progressive and Engardio a moderate.
Most Asian supervisors in San Francisco have leaned progressive, and often found backing among Asian communities. Yet a moderate-leaning faction of Chinese voters may have found their voice during recent recalls in the city — that could change the calculus of who Asian voters send to office, no matter what their ethnicity may be.
Still, longtime Asian American leaders see a benefit to having Asian elected officials in City Hall — regardless of their politics.
Mabel Teng, a former supervisor who won her office during citywide elections in the 1990s, noted that Mar’s defeat leaves only one Asian member of the Board of Supervisors — Connie Chan — in a city that’s 37% Asian.
She also bemoaned the defeat of Ann Hsu, who would’ve brought an Asian immigrant’s perspective to the school board.
“The Asian community is hurting deeply with the defeat of Gordon Mar and Ann Hsu. This is the first time in decades, since my tenure on the (Board of Supervisors), there is one Asian elected on the (board) and Board of Education,” Teng said.
Engardio says he wants to represent all of his constituents, and is committed to keeping an ear to the needs of Asian communities in his district.
“As a candidate, I did a lot to do Chinese-language outreach. And many people on my staff and many of my volunteers spoke Mandarin and Cantonese,” Engardio said. “I will do a lot to make sure that we're communicating with and connecting with every resident in the Sunset.”
District 4 encompasses the Sunset and Parkside neighborhoods, and is majority Asian, and nearly 40% Chinese, according to city data. Those neighborhoods — more than many dense, urban San Francisco locales — resemble a suburban utopia, with single-family homes, higher rates of car driving versus transit use. It’s a slice of the American dream for families emigrating here and the generations that came after them. It’s also home to retail corridors with many Asian anchor businesses, like 25th Irving Market, a popular grocery store.
The Chinese community is so interwoven into District 4 that Supervisor Mar helped create the Chinese Cultural District in the Sunset in 2021. During the initial planning process for the Sunset Chinese Cultural District, some of the groups involved with its formation planned a march against anti-Asian hate on the Great Highway in April.
“This is an example of the types of community activities that could be organized on a regular basis through the Sunset Chinese Cultural District,” Mar said, in a statement at the time.
David Lee, a politics lecturer at San Francisco State University, noted Asian American leaders tend to be more in tune with the needs of that community. And those issues are many: rising anti-Asian hate stemming from the pandemic, related but separate hate crimes and violence against Asians, and the health of Asian-owned businesses rank among needs Lee says are top of mind.
“I think that is a concern for many people, including leaders in the Asian-American community,” he said. “And it puts more pressure on the mayor to — through appointments, should openings come forward — to appoint Asian-Americans to the Board of Supervisors so that we have a board that looks like the people of San Francisco.”
That lack of representation disproportionately impacts the Chinese community in particular, which makes up a majority of District 4, said Malcolm Yeung, the director of a prominent Chinatown nonprofit, the Chinatown Community Development Center.
“For the Chinese community, this is a blow. You know, it's decreasing our representation quite significantly,” he said.
There’s been an ongoing narrative since the rise of the recalls of District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and three school board candidates, of an “emerging Chinese moderate vote,” Yeung said, a more vocal sector of the Chinese community that leans more centrist in their politics. Notably, with some exceptions, many previously elected San Francisco supervisors who are Asians were progressives: Eric Mar (brother to Gordon), Sandra Fewer, Jane Kim, Norman Yee, and Connie Chan, for instance.
But that newly activated electorate isn’t backing the usual Asian candidates in San Francisco, who have sometimes tacked towards progressive politics.
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November 19, 2022 at 09:00PM
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For the First Time in 2 Decades, This Majority-Asian SF District Will Not Have an Asian Supervisor - KQED
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