2022 California 17th State Assembly District Special Election

The 2022 California 17th State Assembly district special election is an upcoming special election to fill the vacant 17th Assembly District. Incumbent Assemblymember David Chiu resigned the seat to become City Attorney of San Francisco on November 1, 2021.

Governor Gavin Newsom scheduled the election for April 19, 2022. The blanket primary election was held on February 15, coinciding with the local special election on the same date.

Background

On November 1, 2021, then-Assemblymember David Chiu resigned his Assemblymember position and was sworn in as San Francisco City Attorney. On November 15, Governor Newsom declared that the primary election would occur on February 15, 2022, and the general election would occur on April 19. The election is a two-round system. If no candidate wins a simple majority of votes in the primary election, the top two vote-getters will face off in the general election.

Voter turnout for special elections is often lower than that of regular elections. However, after new vote by mail laws passed in California due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the most recent off-cycle election included unusually high turnout primarily via the vote by mail option. Turnout for the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election was 58%, twice as high as expected in a normal special election. If this trend holds, the California 17th assembly district special election could have similarly high turnout.

Candidates

Four candidates (all registered Democrats) were certified to run in the special election.

* Bilal Mahmood, behavioral economics researcher, predictive analytics entrepreneur and policy analyst in the Obama administration
* David Campos, Chief of Staff for the San Francisco District Attorney, and former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
* Matt Haney, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
* Thea Selby, a City College of San Francisco trustee
Following the primary election, David Campos and Matt Haney advanced to the general run-off election.

Issues

Housing: 469 Stevenson Street

In October 2021, San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 against a housing development at 469 Stevenson Street in San Francisco. Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district the project was in, was among the three who voted in favor of the project. The proposed housing site, which is located in Haney's district and currently serves as a valet parking lot for Nordstrom, would have provided 73 affordable housing units on-site and 45 off-site, as well as created 1,000 union jobs. Haney argued in support of the project, citing “a homelessness crisis, a housing affordability crisis and a climate crisis" that necessitated more housing at all levels, including affordable housing. Bilal Mahmood and Thea Selby also supported the project.

David Campos opposed the project, arguing that the project would cause gentrification and displacement of low-income residents from the neighborhood. Haney countered: “I don’t think it prevents gentrification to keep a Nordstrom’s valet parking lot,” and noted that most low-income people living in the neighborhood have strong protections against displacement.

Pundits argued that it was unusual for the board to overrule the district supervisor on a land use rule. Because six of the supervisors had endorsed David Campos, they claimed the vote was about "punishing Matt Haney for running against David Campos."

In March 2022, the Haney campaign sent a print mail advertisement to voters about the Stevenson Street project. The mailer stated: “Matt Haney voted to build 495 units of housing for working families here – his opponent, David Campos, wants to keep it a valet parking lot." The Campos campaign accused Haney of flip-flopping on housing policy and disputed the number of homes that would be reserved and priced affordably for low-income households.

"Tenderloin Supervisor Matt Haney"

David Campos regularly referred to Matt Haney as "the Tenderloin supervisor" and placed an online video ad that blamed Haney for serious levels of crime, drug use and homelessness in the neighborhood. Campos said that under Haney's tenure, the situation was so bad that the Mayor declared a state of emergency. Haney responded that the epithet was a "cynical" ploy to "fear and prejudice", tying Haney to one out of many neighborhoods in his district. Haney stated that he had brought more resources to the Tenderloin. Haney's campaign shared a letter by Tenderloin merchants and residents calling on Campos to take down his negative advertising, saying "you are ostracizing and degrading an entire community for your own political gain.” Campos responded, “I think that what’s happening to this community is a travesty. And saying that it is a travesty is not an attack on that community.”

A political science scholar suggested “negative campaign ads tend to work in national and state level politics, but at the level of neighborhoods, in a city where neighborhoods matter, an ad blaming a single politician for its condition might backfire and alienate voters throughout the city.”

Campos Ballot Designation

In December 2021, lawyers representing Matt Haney wrote to the California Secretary of State to challenge David Campos's ballot designation as "civil rights attorney". The lawyers argued that there was no record that Campos had acted as a civil rights attorney in his recent jobs as a government administrator or as Chief of Staff to District Attorney Chesa Boudin. A Haney campaign spokesperson said it was "confusing and misleading" for Campos to omit his occupation from voters. The Campos campaign responded, "David amposwas hired by the district attorney's office to be a civil rights attorney," and called the challenge "cynical." The Secretary of State's office approved the ballot designation.

In February 2022, Haney's campaign filed a lawsuit against California Secretary of State Shirley Weber seeking a court order to strike the ballot designation. Campos and Boudin submitted declarations in support of "civil rights attorney" as a ballot designation, arguing that civil rights work was a core part of Campos's occupation with the District Attorney's office. The judge in the case disagreed, saying “The court finds that it is highly unlikely that the tasks that Mr. Campos and Mr. Boudin have outlined in their declarations is their principal occupation, versus overseeing the prosecution and making policy decisions involving those accused of a crime or enforcing the criminal laws.” The judge rejected "civil rights attorney" and "criminal justice attorney" as ballot designations, ultimately approving "criminal justice administrator" as Campos's ballot designation. After the ruling, Haney expressed vindication that Campos's original designation was misleading. Campos maintained that his work with the District Attorney's office protected civil rights, "including the right to be safe" and "working to free the wrongfully convicted".

A political science scholar called the ruling a win for the Haney campaign, painting Campos as "misleading" and tying Campos to Chesa Boudin, who faces a recall election in June. Another scholar said the difference between the old and new ballot designations was marginal, but it could sway more voters towards Haney over Campos.

Endorsements

Polling

Primary election

Runoff

Results

Results as of February 23, 2022, 4:01 PM local time:

Notes

;Partisan clients

External Links

California Secretary of State: Assembly District 17 - Special Election

References

{{2022 United States elections
State Assembly 17 Special
California State Assembly elections
State Assembly 2022
California Assembly District 17 special