Mahogany seeks to be first transgender supervisor
Honey Mahogany is officially seeking election to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, setting up a November political showdown against District Six incumbent Matt Dorsey, who was appointed last month by Mayor London Breed.
Mahogany was the chief of staff to former Supervisor Matt Haney, who vacated his seat on the board after winning the April special election for state Assembly. Breed considered appointing Mahogany — at the urging of Haney — but ultimately passed her over in favor of Dorsey, a former San Francisco police spokesperson whom the mayor viewed as a stronger ally on public safety issues.
If Mahogany defeats Dorsey and is elected to a four-year term in November, she would be San Francisco’s first transgender supervisor. The district she is hoping to represent includes the South of Market, Mission Bay and Treasure Island neighborhoods. The Tenderloin used to be part of District Six but was recently moved to District Five during the city’s contentious redistricting process.
Mahogany’s candidacy is no surprise — she said she would run for the seat even if she was not appointed to finish Haney’s term. She enters the race with the immediate support of Haney, who plans to urge his supporters to help Mahogany win as well. Mahogany will also benefit from widespread name recognition. She’s well known from her years of political work, her involvement in local nightlife and her 2013 stint on the TV show “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” where she rose to prominence as the first contestant from San Francisco.
In an interview, Mahogany, 38, described herself as a “practical progressive” who wants to bridge the city’s political divides. She plans to run as a pro-housing candidate who prioritizes the construction of affordable homes but wants to see new residential development of all types throughout San Francisco. On public safety, she pointed to her past advocacy seeking alternatives to law enforcement — including her support for deploying unarmed Urban Alchemy workers to address street issues.
“We as a district have been saying yes to so much,” Mahogany told The Chronicle. “We’ve been saying yes to (shelter-inplace) hotels, we’ve been saying yes to permanent supportive housing and yes to safe injection sites and sobering centers and all of these things that the city needs. But if we’re going to do that, then we have to adequately staff our streets.”
City records show Dorsey filed papers to run in the November election about two weeks ago. Mahogany filed Wednesday.
“I’m a big-d Democrat but I’m a small-d democrat first, and I think voters are always better served by having competitive elections,” Dorsey said. “I look forward to making my for a District Six that is safer, cleaner and more equitable, and I welcome other candidates to share their visions as well.”
Some differences between Mahogany and Dorsey are clear. Mahogany, for example, opposes the recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin; Dorsey recently said he supports Boudin’s removal from office. Dorsey has said he supports the proposed charter amendment backed by Breed that would streamline housing production; Mahogany has not decided whether she supports that measure or an alternative proposal recently introduced by Supervisor Connie Chan.
“The way that we produce housing in San Francisco needs to change,” Mahogany said. “I want to take some time to review those measures and take a good look at them and have conversations with people.”
Mahogany said some kind of measure to accelerate development is likely necessary for the city to “build the amount of housing that we need.”
She started her campaign with a show of political force Thursday, gathering dozens of allies from local politics, organized labor, LGBTQ nightlife and the broader community at the Crossing, a privately run park at Folsom and Main streets where the temporary Transbay terminal was once located.
Mahogany appeared to take a thinly veiled shot at Dorsey during remarks she gave to her supporters.
“Here is where I think my opponent and I really differ: I believe that city departments need to do their jobs,” she said in her speech. “My job as supervisor is to stand up for the people of my district, not to stand up for City Hall insiders or department heads that aren’t doing their jobs, and certainly — certainly — not to spin excuses for them.”
Mahogany said she wanted to begin her campaign at the Crossing because it was surrounded by thousands of units of new housing that she helped bring to fruition while she worked for Haney. Her work on housing was one of the reasons Bilal Mahmood, who unsuccessfully ran for Assembly against Haney, decided to endorse her and attend the launch of her campaign.
“It really puts a wedge in the notion that progressives can’t be pro-housing,” Mahmood told The Chronicle. Breed also considered him for the District Six appointment after Haney won the Assembly race.
Mahogany is a social worker by training and San Francisco native who grew up in the Outer Sunset and went to high school at St. Ignatius College Preparatory. She is currently the chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party and has for several years been a co-owner of the queer bar the Stud, which closed its SoMa location in 2020 but plans to reopen elsewhere someday. Mahogany also co-founded the city’s transgender cultural district that spans part of the Tendercase loin and SoMa.
Haney told The Chronicle he sees Mahogany as the best candidate to represent District Six because of her track record working in his office. He said she took the lead on budget issues and on Proposition B, the ballot measure Haney backed to split up the Public Works department and create a new city agency dedicated to street cleaning. The ballot measure passed, but the department breakup hasn’t been implemented so it’s too soon to tell whether it will result in cleaner streets.
Mahogany also worked to move District Six homeless residents into hotel rooms when the pandemic started and was Haney’s lead staff member on the proposed Stevenson Street housing project at the site of Nordstrom’s valet parking lot, he said. A majority of the Board of Supervisors shot down the project last year, helping Mahogany see “what it looks like when people choose to block, rather than build, housing,” Haney said.
Mahogany said she continues to support building housing on the Stevenson site.
“I can’t imagine someone more qualified to be a supervisor for a district that has such big challenges,” Haney said. “District Six needs someone who will get people off the streets and inside, who will build more housing and who will support small businesses. Honey has done all of those things and will be able to deliver for the district.”
Haney said his former field director, Han Zou, will help with Mahogany’s supervisorial campaign.
“I expect that the strong pro-housing, pro-labor, proreal solutions, not rhetoric coalition that stood with me will stand with Honey. I’m already seeing that that’s the case,” Haney said.
Had Breed appointed Mahogany to the board last month, she would have been able to vote on the mayor’s recently introduced budget proposal that envisions hiring 220 police officers to fill expected vacancies. The budget plan would also provide retention bonuses to police officers — to the tune of $10.5 million per year — and raise officers’ entry-level pay.
Mahogany said she is “a little dubious” the San Francisco Police Department will be able to fill those vacancies, given the current difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. She said “it’s important to be fiscally responsible” when allocating large amounts for police funding. The mayor’s budget would give the department $708 million next fiscal year, a $50 million increase. Much of the larger budget is because of contractually obligated wage increases, but some is due to new proposed spending to recruit and retain officers.
“As supervisor, I am definitely interested in hiring new officers who are ready to get to work and do what we need to do to retain good officers,” Mahogany said.
She believes the Police Department needs to be held accountable for reports of officers failing to intervene while crimes are happening, among other concerns.
“Their job is to solve crimes. Their job is to keep the public safe, and they haven’t been doing that,” Mahogany said. “Crimes are going unsolved. We want to make sure that our officers who are out there on the street are doing what they’re getting paid to do.”
“I look forward to making my case for a District Six that is safer, cleaner and more equitable, and I welcome other candidates to share their visions as well.”
Honey Mahogany, candidate for S.F. District Six supervisor