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San Francisco Mayor's Race Too Close to Call But Will Make History Either Way

Former state Sen. Mark Leno pulled into first place in the race for San Francisco mayor early Wednesday, as ranked-choice redistribution of losing candidates’ votes enabled him to overcome Supervisor London Breed’s early advantage.

Former state Sen. Mark Leno pulled into first place in the race for San Francisco mayor early Wednesday, as ranked-choice redistribution of losing candidates’ votes enabled him to overcome Supervisor London Breed’s early advantage.

After all the ranked-choice votes were sorted, Leno had 50.42 percent to Breed’s 49.58 percent. There are still an unknown number of votes to be counted, however — the Elections Department will accept mail ballots that arrive as late as Friday. The total still outstanding could be in the thousands.

Either way, the winner will be a first for San Francisco: Leno would be the first openly gay mayor, and Breed would be the first African American woman to hold the job.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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