More than 50,000 voters in the Sunset will receive ballots this week for the Sept. 16 special election to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio, whose support for closing the Great Highway to create a park ignited a political firestorm on the city’s west side.
The recall, one of the city's most contentious political issues in recent years, will appear on the ballots as Proposition A.
While the election is limited to District 4 residents, the recall is about more than one neighborhood’s political feud. It reflects a broader ideological and lifestyle debate in San Francisco between drivers who rely on vehicle access and urban advocates for bicyclists, pedestrians, and public transit.
Jason McDaniel, an associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University, said Engardio’s survival will depend less on changing voters’ minds than on getting a critical mass of supporters to the polls.
“There’s not much he can do to dissuade people who are against the park,” McDaniel said. “So it’s going to be about turning out others who like the park and who don’t care as much about [the road closure].”
How did Prop. A get on the ballot?
Engardio and four other supervisors wrote Proposition K for the November 2024 ballot. The successful measure closed a portion of the Great Highway to cars and converted the four-lane roadway to a park, which opened this spring as Sunset Dunes.
The road had already been closed to cars during the weekends for pedestrian use; the permanent park has since attracted tens of thousands of visitors, according to city officials.
During a Wednesday San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee endorsement hearing for Prop. A, Engardio said the park is good for the environment and has benefitted local businesses while creating "joy" for generations of San Franciscans.
“Prop. K was decided by voters in the most open, transparent, and democratic process possible,” Engardio said. “Sunset Dunes has become one of the most visited parks in San Francisco, so let's turn our focus on more pressing matters facing our city and nation."
Engardio, a moderate Democrat who rose to power after supporting the successful recalls of three school board members and former District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022, underestimated opposition to Prop K. in his district.
The measure passed with 55% of the citywide vote but was supported by only 36% of voters in District 4.
The political fallout was swift. Organizers who had opposed Prop. K launched an effort to recall Engardio soon after the election and spent four months gathering the necessary 9,911 signatures to qualify it for the ballot. The Department of Elections called for a special election in May after certifying those signatures.
“Engardio refused to listen and ignored the voices of the very people who elected him to office,” Jamie Hughes, the recall campaign’s leader, said in a statement to the DCCC. “It was a betrayal that was felt deeply across the entire Sunset district.”
Who’s supporting the recall?
Supporters of the recall include a long list of independent District 4 residents, along with the Chinese American Democratic Club, the San Francisco Republican Party, and retired judges Quentin Kopp, Lillian Sing, and Julie Tang.
“[Engardio] failed his only job, which is to listen to represent the district,” Selena Chu, a Sunset resident and vice president of the Chinese American Democratic Club, said during the DCCC endorsement hearing. “I am very disappointed. This is not someone who's willing to work with the district.”
The recall campaign has raised roughly $260,000, according to campaign finance records, with many of those donations from residents of the city’s west side. The latest campaign filing shows that the recall campaign has more than $142,000 in debt and $64,000 cash on hand.
Who’s opposing it?
Engardio has secured a broad coalition of high-profile supporters who are fighting to keep him in office, including state Sen. Scott Wiener and Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Bilal Mahmood, Danny Sauter, Stephen Sherrill, and Board President Rafael Mandelman.
YIMBY groups, environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club, a handful of local unions, and LGBTQ+ advocates are also backing Engardio.
The anti-recall campaign has raised more than $720,000. Top donors include crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, who poured $200,000 into the campaign, and Yelp cofounder Jeremy Stoppelman, who donated $175,000.
Others who’ve opened their pockets to defend Engardio include Twilio cofounder John Wolthuis, the San Francisco Police Officers Association, investor Ron Conway, and Y Combinator executive Garry Tan.
Those who have remained notably silent on the recall include Mayor Daniel Lurie, another centrist Democrat who has relied on Engardio’s vote to pass his policy priorities.
How can you vote?
The Department of Elections sent the ballots to registered voters in District 4 on Thursday with a voter information pamphlet and a prestamped return envelope.
John Arntz, director of the SF Department of Elections, said voters can return a ballot by mail; drop it off at one of three official drop boxes, at the Ortega Branch Library, Parkside Branch Library, and City Hall; or vote in person on Election Day at the district’s 20 polling places.
Voters can track the status of their ballot on the city’s voter portal.
What happens next?
If Engardio survives the election, he will have to defend his seat again when he’s up for reelection next year.
If voters remove him, Lurie will appoint an interim supervisor to Engardio’s spot on the board. That person would need to run again in 2026 to secure a full term.
The mayor’s office has been tight-lipped about whether it has started a behind-the-scenes search for potential replacements.
But the recall comes at a critical time for Lurie. The mayor needs a majority vote on the 11-member Board of Supervisors to finalize his citywide upzoning plan, one of his top policy priorities for the year. The District 4 supervisor, whether it remains Engardio or becomes Lurie’s appointee, will play a key role in determining the fate of Lurie’s plan, as many west-side residents are opposed to adding multifamily housing to the area.
The recall supporters have more to gain from the election than just removing Engardio. They hope that his ousting will pave the groundwork to stop progress on the Great Highway’s park conversion.
A lawsuit to overturn Prop. K is pending at San Francisco Superior Court, while Supervisor Connie Chan, a critic of the road’s closure, has considered introducing a ballot measure to reopen it to cars.
To move that proposal forward, Chan would need support from three other supervisors. If the Sunset ends up with a new representative, that vote could be their first — and probably most consequential — test.