Chiu, Campos face November Assembly battle

Two San Francisco supervisors will face each other in a runoff race for one of The City’s state assembly seats this November following Tuesday’s primary election.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors president David Chiu garnered just more than 48 percent of the vote, while his colleague Supervisor David Campos earned just more than 43 percent.

Republican candidate David Salaverry, who made for three candidates with the first name “David” running in the race, kept 8.5 percent of the vote, and was bumped out of contention.

Tuesday’s election saw low voter turnout in San Francisco, with not even a quarter of registered voters casting a ballot. Only just more than 8 percent of voters made it to the polls Tuesday, while the remaining 15.25 percent voted by mail.

The two top vote-winners will continue to wage their campaigns in the fight for the seat that represents most of San Francisco in the state assembly. The seat is currently occupied by Democratic state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano.

Chiu’s campaign spokeswoman Nicole Derse said this afternoon that the campaign is pleased with the results:

“We’re in a good position for November.”

Derse touted Chiu’s “diversity and breadth” in campaigning throughout the entire city “from Chinatown to the Bayview.” She also criticized the Campos campaign for using “a lot of deception” and negative tactics but credited voters for seeing through it.

She said Chiu has saved up more money for the next stage of the campaign, which is looking at a long road until November 4:

“Our hope is that the campaign can be positive and focused on results.”

Derse was optimistic that November’s election would bring out more voters, including those from younger, Chinese and Independent political party demographics.

Campos has described himself in his campaign as a leader fighting for all residents and the working class, not just billionaires and tech giants, in his role as supervisor in a district that includes the Mission District.

He has touted his efforts to bring free Muni to low-income youth, protect women’s rights, promote affordable health care to workers, and defend low-income residents during The City’s housing crisis and other income inequality battles.

Campos has stood by his vote against the 2011 Twitter tax break and his position in a fight earlier this year over a commuter shuttle bus program.

The shuttle program, such as those used by Google and other technology companies, was approved by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation board of directors and went before the Board of Supervisors after an environmental review appeal.

With the appeal shut down by a majority of the board, the program will start in July as planned to allow commuter shuttles to use public bus stops to pick up and drop off passengers for a small fee.