Voters in the Sunset overwhelmingly ousted Supervisor Joel Engardio from office in Tuesday’s recall election, which was sparked by his support for a 2024 ballot measure that closed the Great Highway to cars to make way for the Sunset Dunes park.
Early election results published late Tuesday showed 64.7% of District 4 voters approved Proposition A, the measure to remove Engardio from office, compared to 35.4% who voted against it.
Engardio’s removal is the first time in city history that a supervisor has been recalled. The election is expected to cost city taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cheers erupted when the first batch of results dropped at a pro-recall election party at Celia’s by the Beach, a Mexican restaurant a handful of blocks from the Great Highway. Around 80 people from across the city’s political spectrum — conservatives, moderates, and progressives — had gathered to celebrate the results.
Albert Chow, a vocal recall supporter and local business owner, said it’s crucial the city course-correct after the recall and reevaluate the Great Highway’s future.
“That is our community coming together and saying, ‘None of these decisions about us without us,’” Chow said.
It was much quieter a short drive away at Engardio’s campaign headquarters on Taraval Street, where the embattled supervisor and supporters sipped on seltzers and Fort Point beer while eating Golden Boy pizza.
“My time as a supervisor is going to be shorter than expected. I accept the election results. But we can still celebrate, because we are on the right side of history,” Engardio said in a speech to his supporters. “Sunset Dunes is a success. It’s good for the environment. It’s good for the local economy. It’s bringing joy to people of all ages. We created something positive, and very soon people are going to wonder: what was the controversy about?”
The San Francisco Department of Elections had counted more than 15,400 ballots so far. There are about 50,000 total registered voters in D4, which includes the Sunset, Parkside, and Lakeshore neighborhoods.
The Department of Elections still has thousands of ballots to count this week. Late ballots, which have historically leaned progressive and anti-recall, are expected to narrow the margin.
”It doesn’t matter that it’s absentee [voting]. He got his ass kicked,” said David Latterman, a political analyst in San Francisco. “Any way you look at it, it didn’t go well for him.”
The recall stemmed from Engardio’s support for Proposition K in the November election, which converted a two-mile stretch of the Great Highway into the Sunset Dunes park.
The measure passed with nearly 55% of the vote citywide, but was rejected by 64% of voters in Engardio’s district, where the road is located.
Prop. K’s passage fueled outrage among D4 residents, who criticized Engardio for championing a measure they argued would worsen traffic in their neighborhoods. They spent months collecting signatures to qualify the recall as a special election.
Engardio said he supported Prop. K because of coastal erosion and other environmental concerns that threatened the Great Highway’s future. He argued that despite some frustration in his district over the park, which opened this spring, there is also widespread enthusiasm for it among his constituents.
“It’s disappointing,” said Peter Belden, political chair for the San Francisco Sierra Club, about Tuesday night’s results. “Across a range of issues, [Engardio] really had the best voting record on environmental issues.”
In his speech, Engardio argued that “San Francisco cannot be the most progressive city afraid of change.”
“We have to be the most progressive city that embraces the future,” he said, ending his speech with an open invite to meet him at the park. “I will see you at Sunset Dunes.”
Recent polling showed Engardio, a moderate Democrat elected in 2022, faced tough odds at surviving the recall.
Engardio’s campaign lacked public support from San Francisco’s moderate political forces, including Mayor Daniel Lurie and some members of the local Democratic Party, though House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi publicly endorsed Engardio earlier this month.
Wealthy donors contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Engardio survive the recall, outraising the pro-recall campaign by a roughly three-to-one margin.
His supporters hauled in over $824,000, including support from crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, who gave $200,000, Yelp co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman, who forked over $175,000, and Silicon Valley titan Ron Conway, who threw in $25,000. The local police and the Northern California carpenters’ unions also came to Engardio’s defense with a combined $100,000.
Recall advocates raised more than $250,000, with a good chunk of support from the Chinese American Democratic Club, which gave $27,000.
Engardio’s ousting is the third successful recall in San Francisco in recent years. Former District Attorney Chesa Boudin was removed from office in 2022 over voter concerns with public safety issues in the city, while three school board members were also recalled that year.
The department is expected to submit the final result to the Board of Supervisors for certification 10 days after the election. The board could vote to certify the results as early as Sept. 30.
From there, Lurie would appoint Engardio’s successor — with far-ranging implications through 2026.
“I want to thank Supervisor Joel Engardio for his years of service and commitment to San Francisco. And I want to thank all the District Four residents who made their voices heard and participated in today’s special election,” Lurie said in a Tuesday statement. “As votes are still being counted and the election will be certified in the coming weeks, our team is evaluating next steps for the District Four supervisor seat.”