San Francisco mayor’s race heats up with another challenger to London Breed

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former interim mayor of San Francisco announced Tuesday he’s running for his previous job, joining a competitive field of candidates who say the city has crumbled under the watch of Mayor London Breed, who is up for reelection this year.

Mark Farrell served as interim mayor of San Francisco from January to July 2018, when Breed was elected to finish the term of Ed Lee, who died in office. The lawyer and former city supervisor said he had not planned to return to politics but feels he has the right skills to turn San Francisco around.

“It is really painful to watch the city you love and you grew up in maligned across the globe,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. He has scheduled a press conference for later Tuesday morning.

Breed, the first Black woman to lead San Francisco, was reelected in 2019 to a full term that has lasted five years since voters changed the election calendar to line up with presidential contests. There is no traditional March primary. Instead, all the contenders will appear on the November ballot and voters will rank them by preference.

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