San Francisco mayoral debate canceled due to candidates pulling out

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Monday’s San Francisco mayoral debate has been canceled, host organization SFTogether announced on Friday.

The cancellation follows San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Mayor London Breed, and philanthropist Daniel Lurie’s decision to withdraw from TogetherSF’s intended mayoral debate, which had over 4,000 RSVPs.

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“[Peskin, Breed, and Lurie’s] refusal to show up and speak to the largest community of voters in San Francisco proves that our movement to hold our elected officials accountable to results is working,” TogetherSF said, claiming the “mere announcement” of a debate shows that the political establishment “must be really afraid of change.”

TogetherSF Action has been under scrutiny because of its ties to mayoral candidate Mark Farrell, who has hired multiple alums of the advocacy group, including his campaign manager. The head of TogetherSF Action, Kanishka Cheng, used to work for Farrell and Breed.

Upon discovering more information about the event’s logistics, Mayor Breed pulled out of the debate on Tuesday, stating the event had been “marked by chaos.”

The mayor’s decision followed Peskin’s refusal to attend for similar reasons, claiming showing up to the debate would be “akin to Joe Biden going and having a debate [sponsored by] the National Rifle Association,” Peskin said.

TogetherSF believes Peskin pulling out is the result of attempting to pull off a “good faith debate,” claiming “that’s the risk [TogetherSF] runs when [TogetherSF] challenges somebody who has become accustomed to enjoying unchecked power in [Peskin’s] district for two decades,” TogetherSF said.

In other mayoral candidate news, San Francisco’s Mission Local was set to host a forum between Peskin and Breed on Monday at Manny’s, a longtime San Francisco gathering spot for political dialogue, but the event has since been postponed, the event’s Eventbrite said.

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