UPDATE: Yekutiel just suspended his campaign.
Most leading supporters of Manny Yekutiel for Supervisors have withdrawn their endorsements today in the wake of a second round of sexual assault allegations.
Mayor Daniel Lurie, who had openly stood with Yuketiel and said he didn’t believe Brad Chapin, who had accused Yekutiel of assault several months ago, now says that he can’t support the formerly frontrunning candidate.
The local Democratic Party, which also dismissed the early allegations, will now be forced to hold a special meeting to withdraw its endorsement.
All of this is happening just days before ballots arrive in local mailboxes and residents of District 8 start choosing their next supervisor.
Both Sup. Connie Chan and state Sen. Scott Wiener, who are competing for the congressional seat of the retiring Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, have called on Yekutiel to drop out of the race.
If that happens, Yekutiel would have to repay the city for the public financing he’s received. But he has so much money in his account that wouldn’t be a problem. He could also stay in the race—but it’s hard to see how the voters would accept someone twice accused of sexual assault as the D8 supervisor.
Sup. Rafael Mandelman, the D8 incumbent and one of Yekutiel’s earliest and strongest supporters, at first stood by his candidate, saying the allegations are “not the Manny I know.” But under immense pressure, Mandelman, who wants to run for state Assembly, issued a rather weak statement later in the day:
Manny is an extraordinary person who has made extraordinary contributions to San Francisco. Unfortunately, it has become painfully clear to me that he has work to do on himself and is not ready to serve as an elected official.
No mention of sexual assault.
There’s a clear pattern among many of these folks: They refused to believe Chapin. They did what the billionaires and mayoral allies wanted them to do. And now that they have no choice but to back away, none of them has apologized for ignoring the earlier charges.
In a remarkable statement, Sup. Myrnal Melgar, who was among the first to drop her endorsement, said that Mandelman has in effect excused the behavior:
Public officials have allegedly used similar arguments to defend Yekutiel. Melgar, the supervisor who pulled her endorsement, told The Standard that Mandelman told her privately that groping is perceived differently in the gay community. Mandelman is a key Yekutiel supporter, and occupies the Board of Supervisors seat Yekutiel is running for. During their discussion, Melgar asserted that in the past she had heard from women who had suffered greatly from sexual assault and therefore takes groping allegations like Chapin’s seriously.
She recalled Mandelman replying, “For women, this is a big deal. Among the gays, it’s not a thing.”
Mandelman denied making the statement to Melgar.
“I don’t think I said that. Sexual assault is a thing. I think sexual assault occurs differently [in the gay community] and there’s a different threshold,” he said in a phone interview.
That is not a good look for a candidate for state Assembly.
The allegations have, of course, upended the D8 race. If Yekutiel drops out, Gary McCoy becomes the front runner, and Michael Nguyen suddenly has a chance. If he stays in, and by some remarkable stretch gets elected, a recall effort will start almost immediately—and all those folks who supported recalling a district attorney who had done nothing wrong except fulfill his campaign promises will have to take a stand.
And what about all of those Big Tech folks who poured money and support into Yekutiel’s campaign? Will any of them say they made a mistake?
This is a breaking story, and we will update as things change.
