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Mission Local is publishing campaign dispatches for each of the leading contenders in the mayoral race, alternating between the candidates weekly through November. This week: London Breed. Read previous dispatches here.
Dolores Huerta, the famous union leader and co-founder of the Farmers’ Union with César Chávez, has become involved in the race for mayor of San Francisco.
On Friday, Huerta supported Mayor London Breed’s re-election, specifically pointing to Breed’s work during the pandemic, when Latino residents were affected by the Covid-19 epidemic at an unprecedented level.
“Not only did he demonstrate his leadership during the pandemic, providing one of the strongest public health responses in the country, but also providing essential resources to support those most affected by COVID-19, such as low-income essential Latino workers,” wrote Huerta, 94, in a statement, referring to the phrase she herself created: “Yes you can with London Breed!”
Veteran leaders of the Mission District recognize that Huerta is a valuable support for the mayor: her election will be automatic for many Latino voters, said Tracy Gallardo, one of the founders of the Latino Task Force, which was instrumental in advocating for testing, vaccines and other help in the Mission in the midst of the pandemic.
“I have worked on other campaigns where at the time [Huerta] “It gave support, all those who made calls to Latinos, that was what we used.” The response, Gallardo said, was immediate: “Oh, Dolores Huerta? Yes of course. Who do you want me to vote for? OK”. You mention Dolores Huerta, you put it on a flyer and distribute it, you already have the vote.”
Still, while Huerta highlighted Breed’s response to the pandemic, Latinos did not fare well in San Francisco during the height of Covid. San Francisco acted quickly in the early days and had a lower overall infection rate, but Latinos in the city had it worse than Latinos in other hard-hit parts of the country, as Mission Local found in 2020.
Breed did not immediately respond to the work of UCSF and the Latino Task Force; Experts were perplexed by the city’s lack of attention to testing Latino residents in the early months. But at the end of 2020, it adopted the strategy of community centers, which were key in testing and vaccination, and allocated $28.5 million to various anti-Covid efforts by Latino organizations.
The mayor has repeatedly touted her leadership during the pandemic in her campaign, and Gallardo said Breed saved lives during Covid by working with the Latino Task Force.
“He gave us the emergency resources we needed, and he continues to support that work,” said Gallardo, who expressed support for Breed. “The 12,000 people served by the Latino Task Force would not have been served without the resources they gave us. Did it save lives? Absolutely”.
In the run-up to Election Day, Latino voters have played a less prominent role compared to other demographic groups, especially Asian voters, and candidates rarely visit the Mission District.
All mayoral candidates have worked hard to reach out to voters in neighborhoods with large Asian populations, such as Chinatown, Sunset and Portola, seeking to capture an electorate that represents 37% of the city. They have published advertisements in Sing Tao Daily and World Journal, and have attended Chinese banquets one after another. The support page de Breed has an entire section dedicated to “Chinese community leaders.”
The mayor has toured the Mission, Gallardo said he has met with her and other Mission District leaders, and will join her rivals at a Latino-focused forum in the Mission’s Gray Area on Saturday. Still, neither candidate’s campaign has focused heavily on Latinos, who make up 15.6% of the city’s residents, according to census data.
Huerta will reinforce Breed’s efforts. In a statement, the mayor called Huerta a “living legend” and an “icon of the Latino community,” noting in particular her family’s union history.
“My grandfather was a member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, my mother was a member of Labor Union Local 261, and my aunt and uncle were Teamsters. And I am a proud former member of the San Francisco Municipal Executives Association,” she said.
However, Huerta’s endorsement did not mean the moon and the stars for everyone.
“While Dolores Huerta is an icon for the Latino and labor community, Mayor Breed has not been an icon at all for the Latino and labor communities,” said Michael Rouppet, president of the San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club. Rouppet noted that Breed has not met with the group, which subsequently supported his rivalBoard of Supervisors Chairman Aaron Peskin, and who has not been receptive to the group’s concerns.
“London Breed was the only candidate who flatly refused to meet with the only Latino Democratic club here in San Francisco,” he said. “I don’t see that he’s interacted with our club or our issues,” he added, pointing to police surveillance, the chaotic street vendor situation along Mission Street and displacement.
Add to that the deportations: Under the direction of Breed-appointed district attorney Brooke Jenkins, San Francisco has cooperated with federal authorities to deport suspected drug traffickers. A narrative has emerged in the city, fueled in part by an article from the San Francisco Chronicle July 2023, which states that Hondurans are the mainstay of fentanyl trafficking.
Last Monday, public defenders demonstrated on the steps of the Hall of Justice to point out that a Honduran man accused of drug trafficking had been acquitted by a jury, which determined that he had been a victim of human trafficking and forced to traffic, this being the first time the office won such a ruling.
Despite the jury’s decision, Jenkins has so far refused to provide the man with the documents necessary for a U visa, a type of visa intended for victims or witnesses of crimes, meaning his stay in the country is in jeopardy. .
According to Lariza Dugan-Cuadra, executive director of the non-profit organization CARECEN, focused on Central American migrants, this reflects a “subjective approach” to the justice system by the prosecution, it is symptomatic of a broader narrative. The city’s use of deportations, he said, is not only counterproductive in terms of public safety — by making immigrants less likely to cooperate with law enforcement — but it perpetuates widespread negative stereotypes about Central Americans.
And none of the mayoral candidates have done enough to reach out to the migrant community to counter that narrative, Dugan-Cuadra said.
“We think it’s a wasted opportunity that candidates don’t talk to people who emigrate,” he said, acknowledging that new immigrants don’t vote but saying they nonetheless deserve to listen to candidates for public office. “They are the economic and cultural engine of our community.”
Still, for Breed, Huerta’s selection is unequivocally good news. There is just over a month until the elections, the polls are tight and every vote will be important on November 5.
“I am honored to have Dolores by my side in my re-election,” Breed said in her statement, “as I work to defend the same rights and values that she has spent her entire life defending.”
