The 1977

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

general elections occurred on November 8, 1977, for all 11 newly created electoral districts to be represented in the

Board of Supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

for the 1978 fiscal year, as well as the position of City Attorney, the position of City Treasurer and a roster of 22 propositions (an extra proposition had been withdrawn from the ballot). It was the first time in San Francisco's history that Board elections were held on a districted basis rather than on a citywide at-large basis; in the November 1976 general election, voters in San Francisco decided to reorganize supervisor elections to choose supervisors from neighborhoods instead of voting for them in citywide ballots when they voted for Proposition T, which included the definition of the district boundaries.

Synopsis

The election was a watershed moment in the history of the city, as extremely fierce electoral campaigns immediately sprung into action. 113 candidates in total were registered in the total of all 11 districts.

Harvey Milk's campaign

One of the most memorable campaigns was that of Harvey Milk, a photographer, camera salesman, U.S. Navy veteran and prior candidate for the 1976 California State Assembly election who cut his teeth with campaigning in the Castro District and appealing to the LGBT voters of the area. He campaigned against sixteen other candidates for the District 5 post which covered the Castro, Haight-Ashbury and other local areas; the most successful candidate was the local lawyer Rick Stokes, who was backed by the Alice B. Toklas Memorial Democratic Club. However, Milk's campaign utilized a populist fervor and highly artistic displays in order to advertise the cause, leading even the San Francisco Chronicle to endorse his candidacy. Milk won the election with 30% of the vote against the other candidates.

Other campaigns

Other successful candidates included that of Carol Ruth Silver (described by the New York Times as the first un-wed mother to win a seat in the Board), Gordon Lau (the first Asian American member) and Ella Hill Hutch (the first African American female member). Dan White, a police officer and former firefighter, also won election for the first time.

Board of Supervisors

District 1

Gordon Lau Gordon J. Lau (, August 22, 1941 – April 20, 1998) was the first Chinese American elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in San Francisco, California. He was elected to the city board of supervisors under Mayor George Moscone in 19 ...

* Ronald W. Anderson * Thomas H. Bomar * Bernard Finn Brady * Bill Eisen *

Roger Grimes Roger D. Grimes (born May 2, 1950) is a Canadian politician from Newfoundland and Labrador. Grimes was born and raised in the central Newfoundland town of Grand Falls-Windsor. Grimes is a former leader of the province's Liberal Party and was its ...

* Don Hill * Edward Lawson * John Maloney * Athanasius (Lou) Maunupau

District 2

Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...

District 3

* John L. Molinari

District 4

Ella Hill Hutch Ella Hill Hutch (June 9, 1923 – February 25, 1981) was an American politician. She was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in San Francisco, California, in 1977 (along with Harvey Milk and Dan White) and reelected in 1980. She was ...

District 5

* Harvey Milk * Terence Hallinan * Rick Stokes

District 6

Carol Ruth Silver Carol Ruth Silver (born October 1, 1938)Schultz, Debra L. and Blanche Wiesen Cook (2002). ''Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement''. NYU Press, is an American lawyer and civil rights activist. She was a Freedom Rider, arreste ...

* Gary Borvice

District 7

* Robert E. Gonzales

District 8

* Dan White * Leonard Heinz

District 9

* Lee S. Dolson

District 10

* Quentin L. Kopp

District 11

Ron Pelosi Ronald Virgil Pelosi (born November 2, 1934) is an American businessman and public figure in San Francisco, California. Biography Pelosi was born in San Francisco in an Italian-American family on November 2, 1934, and was reared in that city. H ...

City Attorney

* George Agnost * Gil Graham * Jim Reilly

City Treasurer

* Kay Pachtner * Thomas C. Scanlon (inc)

Propositions

* (A) - Park Irrigation Bonds * (B) - Fire Department Bonds * (C) - Airport Revenue Bonds * (D) - Airport Revenue Bond Procedure * (E) - Duties of the Mayor * (F) - Term of Chief Administrative Office * (G) - Budget Reductions * (H) - Dental Plan * (I) - Pension Increase * (J) - Disability Hearing Officers * (K) - Supervisors' Administrative Assistant * (L) - C.A.O.'s Executive Assistant * (M) - Fire Department Promotional Exams * (N) - Public Works Contract * (O) - Progressive Payments * (P) - Official Advertising * (Q) - Electricians Salary Demands * (R) - Plumbers Salary Demands * (S) - Sheetmetal Workers Salary Demands * ~~T (Proposition T was officially withdrawn)~~ * (U) - Declaration of Policy: International Hotel * (V) - Declaration of Policy: Fleishhacker Pool * (W) - Declaration of Policy: Billboard Removal

Post-assassination

After both Harvey Milk and then-mayor

George Moscone George Richard Moscone (; November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978) was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. He was known ...

were assassinated by Dan White in 1978, the future of electoral districts were cast in doubt. Feinstein, serving as president of the Board during the 1978 fiscal year, was immediately made mayor in Moscone's stead to serve out his term (with

Louise Renne Louise Renne is a lawyer, former Supervisor and one-time City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, California. She was born to Anne Bartrem Hornbeck (1909 – 2001). She is a graduate of both Michigan State University and Columbi ...

replacing her in the Board seat), becoming the first female mayor in San Francisco's municipal history; she was elected to the position in the following mayoral election of 1983. Harry Britt was selected by Mayor Feinstein to succeed Milk, and would hold a seat on the council until 1993. In 1980, districts were abolished and replaced by the original city-at-large slate for future elections; electoral districts were only revived beginning with the

2000 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2000. Africa * 2000 Ethiopian general election * 2000 Ghanaian presidential election * 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election * 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election * 2000 Ivorian presiden ...

References

{{Harvey Milk

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a c ...

Board of Supervisors 1977 Elections Board of Supervisors Harvey Milk November 1977 events in the United States