From Political to Personal: San Francisco Mayoral Candidates Debate Live at KQED | KQED

That’s on top of other examples, including the July arrest of Kyra Worthy, the former leader of the nonprofit SF SAFE, who faces 34 felony charges over accusations that she misused public funds and donations intended for crime-prevention programs. That followed one of the city’s largest corruption scandals, an FBI investigation targeting bribery and fraud at City Hall that has led to multiple convictions of former city officials.

Other candidates are on the defensive about their records, too. Farrell has come under increased scrutiny for ties to a ballot initiative, Proposition D, that has raised millions of dollars largely from Silicon Valley billionaires and conservative donors. His opponents allege that he is misusing campaign funds directed at the ballot measure and blurring the lines between it and his own mayoral campaign, including by appearing prominently in ads for the measure.

As a supervisor, Farrell was hit with the city’s largest campaign finance violation fine of $191,000, stemming from his 2010 run for supervisor when his then-opponent Janet Reilly alleged that Farrell’s campaign illegally coordinated with an independent expenditure committee. Farrell later settled for $25,000 and the Fair Political Practices Commission exonerated him.

Peskin has also had to clear up past flops while on the campaign trail, like apologizing to the firefighters union at their recent debate for berating the first responders for their handling of a blaze in his district in 2018. Fire Department members alleged that Peskin was intoxicated during the incident, which Peskin denied. After additional complaints about his behavior, the Board of Supervisors president started treatment in 2021 and has been sober from alcohol for three years.

“I know we have real challenges, but I want to make things better, and that’s the experience that I’m living now,” Peskin recently told KQED.

Who’s leading the race?

With about six weeks remaining until election day, no clear frontrunner has emerged. Political consultant Jim Ross describes the race as “still a toss-up” but suggests that this could change as November gets closer.

“Even if voters are saying, ‘I’m supporting Breed or Farrell or Peskin,’ I think they are still open to change or looking for a candidate who will grab hold of their imagination,” Ross said. “At this point, most of the campaigns have been waiting for the election to get closer to make their strongest arguments and spend most of their money.”

One of the latest polls in the mayor’s race, released Tuesday from KRON4 and Emerson College Polling, found Farrell just slightly ahead with 20.6% of voters’ first-choice picks, followed closely by Breed with 20.3%. But Lurie rises to the top with 21% of voters’ second-choice picks, giving him a pathway to victory via the city’s ranked-choice voting system.

Meanwhile, the poll showed Peskin with about 9% of first-choice votes. Progressives are ramping up their messaging to voters around affordability and inclusivity to stay in the fight.

Still, about 27% of voters in the poll, which has a 3.5% margin of error, said they are still undecided.

“Once these debates start to get into full swing, voters can really focus,” Ross said. “But the election is up for grabs at this point still.”

Catch up on all our coverage of the San Francisco mayor’s race, which includes interviews with all the leading candidates: Ahsha Safaí, Mark Farrell, Daniel Lurie, Aaron Peskin, and stay tuned for our interview with London Breed next month.