SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE -- While having so many swing votes could lead to a sense of unpredictability, Jason McDaniel, a Political Science professor at San Francisco State University, said it could also lead to a more cooperative board that’s willing to compromise with one another.
“It will be up to them (the board) on an issue-by-issue basis to decide where they want to govern,” McDaniel said. “It becomes more about alliances and coalition building. ... If you think of it in terms of left versus right, it gets very, very confusing.”
The outcome of the races put into question how many allies Breed will have on the 11-member board when it comes to fulfilling key parts of her agenda, such as building more Navigation Centers and adding homeless services in parts of the city aside from the Tenderloin, the Mission and Bayview-Hunters Point.
But the fact that the candidates who are likely to win didn’t run on an “anti-Breed” platform is perhaps a sign that she will be able to forge connections on the board, McDaniel said.
“It’ll be harder for Breed to govern on the agenda she campaigned on,” McDaniel said. But “there is space for Mayor Breed to find areas of governance. ... It’ll be up to the mayor to see if she can forge allies.”