Former SF Supervisor David Campos kicks off his campaign for State Assembly

(SAN FRANCISCO) Former Supervisor David Campos kicked off his campaign last Saturday on November 13 for the State Assembly race in District 17.

Governor Gavin Newsom and the Department of Elections in San Francisco announced respectively last week that the date for the State Assembly District 17 Special Election would be February 15.

This is the second time for Campos to run for the same seat in the State Assembly which covers the east side of the City from North Beach and Chinatown down to the south of the Bay View and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods.

In 2014, Campos was defeated narrowly by David Chiu in the State Assembly District 17 race. Both Campos and Chiu were Members of the Board of Supervisors at that time.

By the appointment from Mayor London Breed, Chiu stepped down from the State Assembly on November 1 to be sworn in as the new City Attorney in San Francisco.

Matt Haney, sitting Supervisor representing District Six, has also entered the race of the State Assembly District 17. Campos has received more endorsements from current or former elected officials, while Haney has shown many of his supporters are from the labor unions.

In the kickoff rally, Tina Chen, representing the Local 2 hotel workers, announced her endorsement to Campos in the race.

Assemblymember Phil Ting representing District 19 and the west side of the city attended the kickoff rally to show his support for Campos. "We want him (David Campos) to be at Sacramento to work with me on many issues, like civil rights and immigration. David has proved his leadership on the Board for eight years," said Ting.

Supervisor Connie Chan representing the Richmond District also attended the rally and has endorsed Campos. Other elected officials joining the rally included Former State Senator Mark Leno, Former Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, and Former Supervisor John Avalos.

Campos is a first generation Latino immigrant and a member of the queer community. The kickoff rally was held at Campos' campaign headquarter which is located at the heart of Castro District, the well known home of the LGBTQ community.

Campos spoke in his kickoff rally that health care, homelessness, housing and civil rights are his priorities when he gets elected to the State Assembly next year.