February 5, 2007
Mayor Newsom's popularity in SF
Tucked away in a Matier and Ross article in the San Francisco Chronicle about how the Oakland A's new stadium in Freemont would be subject to high tides and "global warming" problems, is a recent poll on Mayor Gavin Newsom. The article later wonders when people in San Francisco will realize the Emperor has no clothes.
(Jack Kemp is not the former politician of the same name.)Betting line: If you're wondering why candidates aren't lining up to run against San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the wake of the big City Hall sex scandal, look no further than a recent poll by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin and Associates.The poll of 400 San Francisco voters was commissioned by the Police Officers Association to test the public's appetite for a pension measure that the union is thinking of putting on the ballot.As is often the case in such surveys, the cops tossed in a few other questions -- including one asking voters how they felt about Newsom.The poll was taken from Jan. 20-23, a week before news broke of the mayor's affair with a former staffer and wife of his now-former campaign manager. But the results show just how far Newsom might have to fall to be vulnerable this November.A total of 77 percent of respondents said they approved of the job Newsom was doing and 63 percent said he should be re-elected.When stacked up against other possible candidates, the results were:-- Newsom: 58 percent.-- Former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez: 13 percent.-- Public Defender Jeff Adachi: 4 percent.-- Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi: 3 percent.-- Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin: 1 percent.-- Don't know or don't care: 21 percent.Plus, the mayor already has raised $600,000, giving him a big advantage over any competition.