The message over in Chinatown tonight was pretty clear: If Ron Conway and Mayor Lee think they can run a candidate against Aaron Peskin this fall, they are out of their minds.
Peskin held a banquet and thank-you party for about 900 of his closest friends – and some of his former not-so-close friends who are quickly coming around – at the New Asia restaurant, and although it wasn’t the start of the re-elect Pekin effort, it could have been.
Willie Brown was there. Rose Pak called in by cell phone from China. Former Mayor Art Agnos was there, in his first public event since recovering from heart surgery (and he looked great). State Sen. Mark Leno was there, as was City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Sups. David Campos and Jane Kim were on hand, along with retired Judge Quentin Kopp.
Assembly member David Chiu, who did not support Peskin for supervisor last fall, was there. Sups. Scott Wiener and London Breed, who did not support Peskin, were there.
The Chinese Chamber of Commerce was well represented. So was the Chinatown Community Development Center and the Chinese Progressive Association. Mayor Lee was invited and apparently RSVP’d, but when I left after a couple of hours he hadn’t shown up.
Peskin spent much of his time thanking people – the hundreds of volunteers, the thousands of donors, the campaign team that basically kicked the asses of Mayor Lee and his crony Ron Conway (although he tactfully didn’t say that).
There was the symbolic re-swearing in. There were the expected accolades. But mostly, there was a political message that Peskin has consolidated his base in District 3, has made good with friends and foes, and should be able to spend his time in 2016 working to oust the real-estate lobby from the Democratic Party and ensuring a progressive majority on the Board of Supes without worrying about his own re-election.
Because of the rules of local elections, Peskin won in November the right to complete the term of Chiu, who left for Sacramento, filled by Julie Christensen, who had to face the voters at the next election and lost.
Since the odd-numbered seats are up in November, he has to run again. I have heard rumors that the Lee/Conway forces will try to oust him, or at least make him fight to hold his seat, since in essence he ran directly against the mayor and has already been a bit of a thorn in the seats at Room 200.
I didn’t see Ron Conway there tonight. I think, though, he probably got the message.
So if D3 is secure, Peskin needs to decide where to put his formidable political and fundraising skills this fall. Because if the progressives lose in Districts 1, 5, 9, and 11, he will be in the minority on a very conservative board.
