Political Notebook: In SF D8 supe race, Alice club endorses former president McCoy

In this year’s competitive race for the District 8 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the membership of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club gave an early endorsement Monday night to its gay former co-chair Gary McCoy. He is one step closer to having endorsements from the city’s two main Democratic clubs in the race to succeed termed out gay Supervisor Rafael Mandelman.

“The Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club has been a cornerstone of San Francisco's LGBTQ community for more than 54 years, and their endorsement means the world to me. I am a product of this community in the most literal sense, having served as co-chair and board member for many years,” McCoy told the Bay Area Reporter. “To have Alice's support as I run to represent D8 is an honor I will carry with me every day of this campaign and into City Hall. I am ready to fight for the LGBTQ+ San Franciscans who built this district and for the next generation who deserve to stay in it."

The membership of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club will vote Tuesday, June 16, on giving McCoy its first-place endorsement in the race. He also served as a co-president of the more progressive political group.

The Milk club’s political action committee also has recommended a number two endorsement in the race go to another of its former board members, patent attorney Michael Trung Nguyen. Also known by their drag persona Juicy Lui, Nguyen founded the Milk club’s AAPI Caucus for its Asian American Pacific Islander members.

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.

The Alice club opted to solely endorse McCoy in the race, whereas the Milk club is set to make a ranked-choice endorsement for McCoy and Nguyen. Due to his ties to Milk, Nguyen told the B.A.R. he is “super excited” about having the PAC recommendation.

“As the founder of the AAPI Caucus at the Milk Club, I have learned so much from the club members, and I am glad that the PAC recognized my campaign candidacy as an opportunity to disrupt the status quo and, in the words of Harvey Milk, fight unapologetically for all the Us’s who are too often left behind and left out of the room where decisions get made,” stated Nguyen. “So yes, I am very excited and look forward to continuing to engage with Milk Club members as they vote on Tuesday for the endorsement.”

While Darshini Patel, a bisexual and queer woman who used to work at DoorDash, had also sought Milk’s endorsement, small business owner Emanuel “Manny” Yekutiel opted not to and didn’t fill out the club’s questionnaire unlike his trio of opponents.

[…]As for why the club opted for an early endorsement of McCoy, Rawlings-Fein said it simply had to do with the fact that, “Gary is one of our leaders.” Thus, it shouldn’t come as any surprise, added Rawlings-Fein, that Alice members would want to see a former leader of the club serving “in a position of being a district supervisor.”

Patel noted to the B.A.R. that endorsements by the local clubs “often reward the relationships you build over time. I'm building something newer and different, and I think that's exactly what District 8 needs right now.”

She added in regard to the Alice and Milk clubs that, “I respect both clubs and the work their members put into these endorsements. It's a serious process, and Gary and Michael have built relationships in these clubs over many years. I'm glad to be in this race alongside them.”

She stressed that her campaign is “rooted in the possibility of a city that can actually deliver on its promises, from healthcare services for the queer community to affordable housing. An endorsement is one moment in a long campaign, and between now and November I'll continue to connect with people across District 8 — including club members — and fight for the city I know we can build.”

The dual endorsement moves by the LGBTQ clubs blunt Yekutiel’s perceived frontrunner status in the race, having secured a sole endorsement last fall from Mandelman, the current board president, in the contest to represent the city’s LGBTQ Castro district along with central neighborhoods like Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, Duboce Triangle, and a part of Cole Valley. Both Alice and Milk not only send out slate cards to voters ahead of the November 3 election touting their endorsed candidates but also marshal their memberships to phone bank and canvass for them…