Ed Lee has mayor’s race by the throat

Interim Mayor Ed Lee commands 31 percent of first-choice mayoral votes less than a month before election day, according to a new poll.

With one in five voters still undecided, the crowded field splinters the remaning vote. Closest to Lee are City Attorney Dennis Herrera with 8.1 percent, and Supervisor John Avalos with 7.4  percent.

A nifty but ultimately anticlimactic Bay Citizen election simulator shows Lee triumphing after nine elimination rounds under The City’s new ranked choice voting system. Voters will select a first, second and third choice for major city offices this year, ending expensive runoff elections.