D3/Chinatown Supervisor Aaron Peskin elected as his third term of SF Board of Supervisors President

(SAN FRANCISCO) District Three Supervisor Aaron Peskin who represents Chinatown was elected by his fellow Supervisors as the new Board of Supervisors President after 17 rounds of voting.

This is the third term for Peskin to be a President of the Board of Supervisors. But It was a surprise outcome to Peskin and all Supervisors on January 9 after a 2-hour meeting to select their new Board President. It was the first board meeting in 2023.

Peskin's supporters in Chinatown were excited to hear the news and have planned for a celebration party to be held in Chinatown on January 19.

It was a lengthy meeting on January 9 with deadlocks at every round of voting before Round 17, since none of three candidates received over half of the majority votes to become the Board President.

Former Board President and D10 Supervisor Shamann Walton was interested in running to continue his leadership. Walton was nominated by D9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen.

D1 Supervisor Connie Chan was the second candidate to be nominated by D7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar. Both Melgar and Chan spoke at the meeting that they were first generation immigrants and women of color. Melgar believed that Chan would be a good leader of the Board to represent the voice of the immigrant community.

D8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman was also interested in the position and nominated by D2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani.

From Round 1 to Round 13, the votes among 11 supervisors were the same 5-4-2.

Walton received 5 votes, including himself, Ronen, Peskin, D5 Supervisor Dean Preston and D11 Supervisor Ahsha Safai.

Mandelman got 4 votes from himself, Stefani, D4 newly-elected Supervisor Joel Engardio and D6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey.

Chan received 2 votes from herself and Melgar who nominated her.

After 13 rounds of voting, Chan proposed to reopen the nomination. Peskin nominated himself to be an additional candidate running for the Board President.

In Round 14, Chan gave her vote to Peskin, Melgar followed. Peskin first received 3 votes including his own vote.

In Round 16, Mandelman who was one of the three candidates running for the position changed his mind and voted for Peskin.

Peskin received 7 votes in Round 17 with 3 more votes from Stefani, Engardio and Dorsey. It made Peskin to be the new Board President. Walton received the same 4 votes from Ronen, Preston, Safai and himself.

When Peskin nominated himself as a consensus candidate to bring the Supervisors together, Peskin also cited his experience on the board, having served as a Supervisor from 2001-2009, including two terms as Board President, then being elected again as Supervisor in 2015 and re-elected most recently in 2020.

“It is my honor and privilege to gain the support of my colleagues and community to be able serve again as the Board President,” Peskin said in a statement. “As the city continues to recover from the pandemic and anticipate yet another year of economic downturn, I know that it is time for the city to set aside its differences and focus on the challenges ahead.”