San Francisco School Board Recall Leader Autumn Looijen Enters Supervisor Race

San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston was challenged for his District 5 Supervisor seat on Monday by organizer and activist Autumn Looijen, who helped lead the successful 2022 recall of three San Francisco School Board members.

As extensively covered by the California Globe, the school board recall began in earnest in early 2021 with Looijen and fellow organizer Silva Raj announcing that they would be attempting to recall School Board President Gabriela Lopez, School Board Vice President Alison Collins, and School Board member Faauuga Molig. Already beleaguered by a growing deficit and a growing number of parents and citizens angry about the School Board’s delays in reopening schools following the COVID-19 pandemic, more joined in saying that their priorities were severely misplaced after trying to move ahead with a controversial school renaming plan rather than focusing on the needs of students. This was only compounded in March when old racist and anti Asian American tweets by then School Board Vice President Alison Collins came to light through school board recall supporters.

As the recall became more and more likely throughout the summer and fall of 2021 , the Board quickly dropped the renaming plan and Collins dropped the lawsuit, but to no avail. The signature goal for a recall was reached in September, leading to a successful recall in February 2022. Thanks in large part to Looijen, all three were recalled by a wide margin, with all coming in with over 70% of the vote in favor of their recall. Collins alone had 79%. Even more, the successful recall was praised by both lawmakers on the right and the left in the Bay Area, including state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Mayor London Breed.

Following the successful recall, Looijen renamed her recall organization SF Guardians, with a focus on good governance and great schools. Heading up the organization, the Guardians have since became a vocal voice of moderate Democrats in the city concerning many issues. However, with Supervisor Preston’s seat in danger this year, Looijen decided to shift back toward a more direct political approach and announced her run for District 5 Supervisor on Monday.

“We see a lot of things that are broken in the city,” said Looijen, who wants to now represent the district which includes areas such as the Tenderloin and Haight Ashbury. “I want to take a look at our problems, understand them from all different directions and come up with solutions.”

In an announcement on X, she also noted, “No one can run a neighborhood business under these conditions. As Supervisor, I will stand up for them and get the help they need.”

No one can run a neighborhood business under these conditions.

As Supervisor, I will stand up for them and get the help they need.https://t.co/trt2jAQW8Q

— Autumn Looijen (@autumnlooijen) March 11, 2024

Along with tech executive and likely Democratic County Central Committee member Bilal Mahmood, the two are poised to run as more moderate voices in comparison to Preston, one of the most progressive members of the Board of Supervisors. While progressives lawmakers and policies are currently in a downturn in both California and San Francisco, as seen by the School Board and DA recalls in 2022 and the recent approvals of Propositions E and F by voters last week, Preston is hoping his popularity in the district will help him coast to victory this November.

Preston’s campaign railed against both Mahmood and Looijen on Monday, saying that both have accepted money from tech executive Garry Tan, who had previously been accused of threatening many Supervisors, including Preston.

“Looijen and Mahmood have each taken thousands of dollars from Garry Tan,” said the Preston statement. “And neither has repudiated his death threats against seven supervisors.”

However, experts have noted that Looijen’s addition in the race proves that there are enough moderates and a growing number of residents in the district who are beginning to oppose Preston.

“The fact that two moderate Democrats who have helped remove progressive leaders in the city are getting this much support is pretty incredible,” explained San Francisco-based policy advisor Sharon Burke to the Globe on Monday. “This is not something that should really be happening in San Francisco. But Preston is already pretty vulnerable. His last two elections for Supervisor were very close, with one only being a few hundred votes off.

“And you also have to take into account the recent boneheaded moves by Preston. He has said that the Tenderloin is safe to walk in at night and called for a reduced police budget at a time when every other lawmaker agrees that more is needed. I mean, Elon Musk has called for him to be removed by name. If Mahmood and Looijen have a combined more than 50% of the vote for Supervisor close to November, we may see one bow out to give support to the other or other measures to get Preston out. He’s in a precarious position, and Looijen getting into the race has only proved that.”