Lurie allies face tough June elections that could reshape City Hall votes

San Franciscans waiting on housing approvals, a steadier budget and faster action at City Hall may find the most important June elections are not for mayor at all. Two of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s appointed allies on the Board of Supervisors, District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill and District 4 Supervisor Alan Wong, will face voters in special elections on June 2, and the results could determine whether Lurie keeps a board that helps him move quickly or one that pushes back.

Those contests matter because the seats will go back on the ballot again in November for full four-year terms, and the 2026 Board of Supervisors races will use ranked-choice voting. In a board that turned more moderate after the 2024 elections, even a small shift in vote math could change how easily Lurie advances his agenda on housing, charter reform and the next budget cycle.

Lurie has said Sherrill and Wong share his commitment to “accountability and results.” His allies have poured significant money into both campaigns, signaling how much is at stake for a mayor who has largely enjoyed a cooperative relationship with the board. That cooperation has helped City Hall move through his priorities with little resistance, but supporters fear that a less friendly board could slow decisions on development, spending and the structural changes Lurie is trying to push through.

The District 2 race has become a referendum on western neighborhood housing. Challenger Lori Brooke, a Cow Hollow community organizer, has opposed Lurie’s push for taller, denser housing in western and northern neighborhoods. If Brooke wins, she could add another skeptical vote on growth in a part of the city where housing fights already shape daily life from Cow Hollow to the Marina and Pacific Heights.

District 4 may be even more politically volatile. Wong faces a crowded field that includes Albert Chow, a leader in the successful recall effort against former Supervisor Joel Engardio, and Natalie Gee, a longtime aide to Supervisor Shamann Walton. Opponents have attacked Wong for backing Lurie’s denser-housing plan, while the conversion of the Upper Great Highway into Sunset Dunes park remains one of the biggest issues in the Sunset District. The fight over the park still carries the bitterness of the recall that ousted Engardio, and Lurie’s brief appointment of Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz, who resigned after one week, only deepened doubts on the westside about how much leverage the mayor really has.

Those June races come as Lurie is already trying to reshape City Hall. In December 2025, he and Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman launched the city’s first comprehensive charter reform effort in three decades, after the charter had been amended more than 100 times since 1995 and ballooned to nearly 540 pages. One proposal would expand the mayor’s authority to reorganize departments and appoint or remove many department heads. Lurie also signed a $15.9 billion budget for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27 that closed an $800 million deficit, after announcing a hiring freeze on his first full day in office to confront what he called the city’s largest budget deficit in history.

For Lurie, the June elections are not just about two board seats. They will help decide whether San Francisco’s next fights are settled with a reliable coalition or dragged into harder, slower negotiations at City Hall.