One of the last major political endorsements in the San Francisco mayor’s race has been awarded — and it’s going to the incumbent rather than the challenger who may have been banking on it.
The San Francisco Police Officers Association, which represents rank-and-file law enforcement officers, said Thursday afternoon it’s endorsing Mayor London Breed’s reelection.
“The SFPOA and Mayor Breed have had our differences,” Tracy McCray, the president of the union, said in an email. “Despite our disagreements, over the last four years, the mayor and the SFPOA worked together to make huge strides for our membership and the department.”
Breed had a friendlier relationship with the SFPOA early in her career, but the union did not endorse her first mayoral bid in 2018 because of her advocacy for police reform. Breed briefly joined the call to defund the police during the pandemic, but she has since taken more pro-police positions and worked to increase the department’s budget.
Blasting unnamed politicians who are “nowhere to be found when we need them,” McCray said Breed had been a strong supporter of the police even before public safety became a top priority in voter polls. The union cited Breed’s support of increasing the San Francisco Police Department’s budget and efforts to improve officer morale.
In an interview Wednesday, Breed made a forceful case for her reelection and said she has made progress on crime and police staffing.
“I have the data to demonstrate that I’m capable of increasing public safety in San Francisco,” Breed said. “I’m proud that as hard as we’ve worked, all of this stuff seems to be coming together.” She also touted her work to boost police staffing and open the way for the use of airborne drones in policing.
The POA’s endorsement may be a setback for former interim mayor Mark Farrell, who’s running against Breed on a platform of restoring public safety and beefing up policing. Farrell did, however, secure the support of the fire union, which had been seen as Breed’s to lose. He also won the endorsement of the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association.
Farrell issued a statement Friday morning criticizing the police union’s endorsement process didn’t reflect the members’ support for him.
“I have a message for every rank-and-file police officer: even though you didn’t get a chance to be heard in this endorsement process, I have heard you loud and clear about the state of public safety in our neighborhoods,” Farrell said, “and I will always fight for you in City Hall.”
In the interview Wednesday, Breed suggested that Farrell’s reputation as a champion of public safety is the result of him copying her ideas.
Mentioning Farrell’s proposal to bring National Guard troops to the city, Breed pointed out that she has worked with the federal agency on combating crime and gathering intelligence.
“You’re taking [Farrell’s] plan and saying that he’s stronger on public safety, because what he’s talking about is all the stuff I’m already doing or have already done,” Breed said.