San Francisco's District 7 supervisor race includes Prop K author and its main opponent
The race for San Francisco's Supervisorial District 7 has four contenders, including incumbent Myrna Melgar, who will take on business owner Matt Boschetto, San Francisco firefighter Stephen Martin-Pinto and thoracic surgeon Edward Yee.
District 7 stretches south from the southeast portion of Golden Gate Park to include the Inner Sunset and Forest Hill neighborhoods, down to Lake Merced and a portion of the Upper Great Highway.
The leading fundraiser in the race is Boschetto, who is the managing partner of a family-owned real estate firm, Boschetto Family Partnership, L.P., an owner of an e-commerce flower shop based in the city and a parking garage on Filbert Street.
Boschetto had raised over $393,000 as of Thursday, including nearly $230,000 in public financing, according to campaign finance data.
He has focused his messaging on public safety and opposed this election's Proposition K, which would close the Upper Great Highway to private vehicles seven days a week and was authored by Melgar.
A political action committee he started to defeat the proposition has raised over $75,000, including a $50,000 donation from his father.
His campaign website lists his support for having recalled former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and his support to make changes to Proposition 47 as examples of his public safety stance.
Prop 47 was passed in 2014 and reclassified some thefts as misdemeanors instead of felonies. This election's Proposition 36 would roll back some of those changes and make new penalties for repeat offenders of certain drug crimes and thefts.
He has been endorsed as the number one choice in the ranked choice election by the San Francisco Police Officers Association, state Treasurer Fiona Ma and the San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 798 union, which is a chapter of the AFL-CIO.
Boschetto lists his legislative priorities as trying to accelerate the recruitment of police officers through bonuses and housing and school vouchers, and rezoning commercial corridors to allow higher buildings and more density.
Melgar has been endorsed by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. Melgar is close behind Boschetto in fundraising, having raised about $326,000 as of Thursday, including about $200,000 in public financing. Elected to her first term in 2020, Melgar lists her legislative accomplishments as having supported affordable housing and funding police officer overtime.
She supported bills to create affordable housing developments in the district including Balboa Reservoir, 250 Laguna Honda, Laguna Honda Senior Housing, and Stonestown, according to her campaign website.
Martin-Pinto is a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for more than two decades, according to his campaign website. He is a San Francisco firefighter and former president of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association.
Martin-Pinto had raised over $84,000 for his campaign as of Thursday, including $60,000 in public financing.
He lists the San Francisco Republican Party, San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association, and the San Francisco Briones Society as supporters on his campaign website.
Martin-Pinto's legislative priorities include shutting down drug markets operating in public, making at least 25% of public supportive housing require sober living, and using technology to supplement the Police Department, while also supporting increasing police staffing.
Yee did not return a request for further details on his policy positions or legislative priorities. He earned his medical degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
Yee does not have a campaign website and did not participate in the League of Women Voters debate this summer. He also has not disclosed raising any money, according to campaign finance data.
