In SF D8 supervisor race, LGBTQ Dem clubs pick McCoy as top choice
For only the third time in the past 26 years have San Francisco’s two main LGBTQ Democratic clubs agreed on who should represent the LGBTQ Castro district and its surrounding neighborhoods as the District 8 supervisor. In this year’s race they have coalesced around Gary McCoy, a gay longtime political aide to Congressmember Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), as their top choice.
Tuesday night, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club endorsed McCoy as its number one pick in the contest. The progressive political group also backed gay patent attorney Michael Trung Nguyen as its second choice in the four-person race.
Under the city’s ranked-choice voting system, voters can rank candidates in first, second, third, and fourth place if they choose. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in the first round then the candidates with the least votes are successively eliminated with their voters’ other ranked choices tabulated until a winner emerges.
Milk club Co-Presidents AjaiNicole Duncan and Reid Coggins told the Bay Area Reporter on Wednesday that they “are proud” by the members’ decision to approve the endorsements for District 8 Supervisor as recommended by its political action committee.
“Both Gary and Michael have demonstrated a longstanding commitment to public service, the LGBTQ+ community, and the progressive values that define San Francisco. Throughout their careers, they have shown up for working people, marginalized communities, and those whose voices are too often left out of the conversation,” stated Duncan and Coggins. “Harvey Milk Democrats have always fought for the collective 'us' – for a city where everyone can thrive – and we are confident that both Gary and Michael will continue that tradition by championing policies that put community, equity, and justice first. Either would make an outstanding representative for District 8."
On Monday night, as the B.A.R.’s Political Notebook first reported online, the more moderate Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club solely endorsed McCoy to succeed gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who is termed out of office in early January. McCoy is a former co-chair of the Alice club and also served as a co-president of the Milk club.
“I have spent my career leading and working alongside these clubs, and having them both in my corner means everything. It’s an honor I don’t take lightly. I look forward to working with Alice and Milk to fight for San Francisco’s LGBTQ community and for District 8,” stated McCoy, who lives in Twin Peaks with his husband Kory Powell-McCoy, who is Pelosi’s district director in her San Francisco office.
