San Francisco mayor loses support from Asian voters, a poll found

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who has been in office since 2018, is facing opposition from her Asian American voters, with 80% of Asian respondents expressing their disapproval of Breed’s performance in a San Francisco Chronicle poll. 

The poll also found that 71% of all voters disapproved of Breed. It is speculated that Breed would lose her seat in office to Mark Farrell, who previously held the position if the election were held now, the Daily Mail reported. 

The results show that Farrell would receive 20% of voter support, Breed with 18% and philanthropist Daniel Lurie with 16%. 

“I thought she had already hit rock bottom, but this is much worse than I anticipated,” said David Ho, political consultant and longtime Chinatown organizer, to San Francisco Chronicle. “Those numbers are below the bottom of the crater. You can’t get worse than that, mathematically speaking.”

With the Asian community making up 37% of San Francisco’s population, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Asian voters are likely concerned with the city’s increased property crime, drug use and attacks on Asian elders under Breed’s leadership. 

Asian voters are also likely frustrated with the city’s “troubled” school district and their lack of voice in local political matters, the San Francisco Chronicle noted. 

“London Breed has a major challenge coming up and she definitely is losing Asian votes,” said William Lee, a former city administrator, to San Francisco Chronicle. “People are just unhappy. They don’t see a future. I’ve never seen it like that.”

While the poll found that Breed’s competitors like Farrell and Lurie were close in numbers, the poll identified 49% of Asian voters were undecided and did not lean towards any specific candidate.

Jonathan Brown, the Sextant Strategies & Research president who organized the poll, explained the number of undecided voters makes the outcome of the election still up in the air, the Daily Mail reported.

Maggie Muir, a political consultant for her campaign, said the poll also shed a positive light on Breed, with 70% of poll respondents saying they felt safe or somewhat safe in their San Francisco neighborhoods, according to the Daily Mail. 

Muir added Breed “continues to boldly lead the city’s recovery” with particular interest in boosting the local economy and strengthening public safety. 

“The election that Mayor Breed is focused on right now is in two weeks when voters go to the polls for her proposed ballot measures to make the city safer, support our neighborhoods, and bring more investment and housing Downtown,” said Muir to the Daily Mail.