Former San Francisco city commissioner Sharon Lai announces her run for D3 Supervisor in 2024

(SAN FRANCISCO) Former San Francisco city commissioner and urban planner Sharon Lai announced her run for District 3 (D3) Supervisor in 2024 in a rally at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown on September 15.

The rally indicated that Lai has gained wide support within the Chinese community from tenants, community leaders, small business owners, to political leaders.

While fewer and fewer Chinese Americans are interested in running for public offices in San Francisco in recent years, Lai's announcement has caught attention from the community.

D3 covers the neighborhoods including Chinatown, North Beach, Union Square, Financial District, Nob Hill and Russian Hill.

The 2020 census data shows that white is the largest ethnic group with 49.30% in D3, followed by Asian at 38.10%.

City Attorney David Chiu was elected as D3 Supervisor in 2008 and served from 2009 until 2014 to become an Assembly Member representing the eastside of San Francisco in the State Assembly.

If Lai is successfully elected as D3 Supervisor in November 2024, Lai would be the first Chinese American Supervisor representing the major Asian neighborhoods, Chinatown and North Beach, in 10 years and the first Chinese woman Supervisor in the district.

D1 Supervisor Connie Chan, D7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, former D7 Supervisor Norman Yee, former D1 Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, Police Commissioner Larry Yee, SFMTA Commissioner Lydia So, Chinatown family associations and business activists were present at the rally to show their support to Lai.

Lai was born in Hong Kong and came to the United States at the age of 16. She is a graduate of University of California at Berkeley and earned a master degree from Harvard University.

Lai is not new to the public service. She was an urban planner working at the City and County of San Francisco for over a decade after college.

Currently she serves at the World Economic Forum. Lai had served as city commissioner. Firstly, she was appointed as a member of the Treasure Island Development Authority’s Board of Directors for years before she was appointed by Mayor London Breed to serve on the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors in 2020 during the pandemic. Lai resigned from the SFMTA Board in July 2022 to pursue a master's degree at Harvard University.

As an immigrant, Lai also speaks and writes fluent Cantonese and Mandarin. "I built my life here in San Francisco and Chinatown," said Lai at the rally.

"I grew up with my grandmother in Hong Kong's public housing," Lai said she was committed to building more affordable housings in the City.

Public safety was also one of the top priorities for Lai if she gets elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2024.

"After experiencing personal violence on Muni, I stood up for victims of crime across the City," said Lai, who is a regular Muni rider.