San Francisco Democrats are locked in a race to the right

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco mayoral candidate Mark Farrell said Thursday that, if elected, he will ask California to send more armed National Guard troops into downtown to fight the city’s open-air drug markets.

The announcement, part of Farrell’s plan to address the fentanyl overdose crisis, is the latest example of how the Democrat and venture capitalist is trying to oust Mayor London Breed in November by outflanking her to the right.

Breed and Gov. Gavin Newsom, both Democrats, have used the National Guard and California Highway Patrol to help local police dismantle fentanyl rings, especially ahead of the city hosting the APEC summit last fall.

But Farrell wants to see more military personnel deployed for an indefinite period of time — though he didn’t specify how many or for how long. His rhetoric, especially his call for “more armed California National Guard,” is sure to strike a political nerve in San Francisco. The city has increasingly leaned into tough-on-crime policies despite its liberal reputation as voters grow frustrated over brazen retail theft, public drug use and sprawling homeless encampments.

Farrell, a former interim mayor and city supervisor, doesn’t see that shift or his aggressive policies in terms of ideology. Rather, he said, it’s a necessary response to soaring drug-related deaths, including at least 811 overdoses in 2023.

“I don’t believe that it’s progressive or compassionate to allow a record number of overdose deaths on our streets every single year,” Farrell said.

He said his approach was inspired, in part, by other blue locales taking aggressive steps in response to similar urban challenges, such as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul deploying the National Guard to fight crime on city subways.

His announcement is just another data point in what’s become a central theme of San Francisco’s mayoral contest: because Breed’s major opponents all share her moderate Democratic stripes, they’re engaging in games of one-upmanship by launching conservative-sounding plans to increase law enforcement and force people into addiction treatment.

Breed’s campaign has, in turn, attacked Farrell by calling him too conservative for the city. “If he tacks any farther to the right, Mark Farrell might need to re-register as a Republican,” said Joe Arellano, her spokesperson.

The rightward push speaks to voters’ growing frustration with the city’s decaying street conditions — as well as the major influence of tech-funded, centrist advocacy groups that have fueled the shift toward more coercive public-safety and addiction policies.

Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit executive and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, has also rolled out a host of tougher policies to address the city’s crime and addiction crises. On Wednesday, he called for a citywide “state of emergency” over the fentanyl problem, which he said would bring in more federal and state funds.

“These are not just numbers on a page. Every death is someone’s son, daughter, sister or brother,” Lurie said during a news conference, where he was endorsed by Frank Jordan, a former mayor and police chief. Lurie has tried to frame himself as the change agent in the race. His consultant, Tyler Law, said Breed and Farrell are “City Hall insiders trying to rewrite their records.”

Farrell was slated to announce Thursday that he would also call for a statewide emergency declaration over fentanyl, increasing tensions between their campaigns.

Breed, meanwhile, has accused both Farell and Lurie of copying her ideas to combat crime and addiction: In 2022, she declared a three-month state of emergency to crackdown on fentanyl in the Tenderloin section of San Francisco. She’s also worked to bring state and federal law enforcement into the city and recently convinced voters to pass a ballot measure mandating drug screening for local welfare recipients.

Progressives in the city have become increasingly worried by what they call a “Republican” pivot funded by billionaires like venture capitalists Michael Moritz, Chris Larsen and Ron Conway.

But there’s no progressive in the race, at least not yet. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, a staunch liberal, says he’s still mulling a mayoral bid — despite press reports that he’s already running.

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