SF supervisor candidate Leanna Louie removed from ballot over residency
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco city officials announced Friday that Board of Supervisors candidate Leanna Louie will be removed from the ballot after not meeting residency requirements.
City Attorney David Chiu's office said Louie, who was running for the seat in District 4, did not establish her official residence or "domicile" in the district at least 30 days prior to declaring her candidacy.
According to Chiu, the investigation was prompted by reports that raised serious questions about whether Louie resided in District 4, which covers a large portions of the Sunset and Parkside districts. The reports said while she signed a month-to-month lease on a District 4 home on 35th Avenue in March, she voted in an April 3 election from her longtime family home on Bridgeview Drive, located in District 10.
Louie then re-registered to vote from her District 4 address on May 7. She declared her candidacy on June 3.
"The information Leanna Louie provided was insufficient, and she did not meet her legal burden to prove she had changed her domicile to her Sunset apartment from her long-time family home in District 10," Chiu said Friday.
According to the City Attorney's report (.pdf), as Louie claimed to establish a new residency in District 4 between March and May, she continued to stay occasionally at her District 10 home. Louie had also continued to use the home as her mailing address, including on her declaration of candidacy to run for the District 4 seat.
Along with the above residences, the report said Louie stayed at two other homes in the city during that timeframe. The candidate had stayed at her fiancé's home in District 9, and used the address for business purposes. Louie also co-owned a home with her fiancé in District 11, a home where her fiancé and her two sons resided.
The report also described a conversation between the City Attorney's office and Louie. When Louie was asked how she would decide on which home to sleep at on a given night, she replied, "It just depends where I'm closest working at that day. Yeah, it depends on my work of the day and what time I finish."
Chiu said since May 3 and after the reports Louie has taken additional steps to shore up her proof of residency in her District 4 home but said the efforts were "not relevant."
Louie's removal from the ballot follows widespread condemnation over the candidate's anti-Semitic posts attacking Mission Local reporter Joe Eskenazi, who had reported on questions surrounding Louie's residency.
Louie was among three candidates vying for the District 4 seat, including incumbent Supervisor Gordon Mar and Joel Engardio, a reporter and activist.
Mar said following the announcement, "I'm grateful to the City Attorney for acting to protect the integrity of our election, removing Leanna Louie from the ballot, and sending a clear message that aspiring lawmakers shouldn't be lawbreakers."