Finally, the chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party has admitted what’s been clear for months: the party endorsed a candidate for supervisor who was accused of sexual misconduct, ignored the pleas of a survivor, and undermined its political credibility.
In a statement today, DCCC Chair Nancy Tung noted:
Most importantly, this policy failed the first survivor to come forward, Brad Chapin, who took the courageous and painful step not only to file a formal complaint, but to stand up and speak directly before our committee during the District 8 endorsement hearing. What has become clear is that attempting to rely on strict jurisdictional boundaries hindered, rather than helped, our ability to evaluate candidates on their fitness for office, public leadership, and survivor safety.
I publicly and sincerely apologize to Mr. Chapin for how our process treated his complaint and for an endorsement decision that caused him further harm. As Party Chair, I also apologize for how this endorsement hurt Ryan Clark, his partner, and others.
Fair enough. But there’s not a lot of talk of accountability: Tung cleared the way for the endorsement of Yekutiel. She also changed the party’s rules to allow the local party to break with the state party to oppose the billionaire tax. She has made a mockery of the San Francisco Democratic Party—and there are mounting calls for her to step down.
Joe Eskenazi at Mission Local is polling members of the Democratic County Central Committee to ask if Tung should resign. I suspect his column will be out Tuesday.
In the meantime, here is what DCCC Member Gordon Mar told Eskenazi:
The question:
“Should Nancy Tung resign from the DCCC and/or step down as San Francisco Democratic Party chair? Why or why not?”
Yes, Nancy Tung must resign as Chair.
She has completely destroyed her credibility as party leader through a pattern of severe ethical failures and pay-to-play governance in the past several months: 1. Shielding Insiders: Pushing through Yekutiel’s endorsement after running a sham investigation into his first sexual assault allegation, betraying her past “zero-tolerance” rhetoric and ignoring survivors. 2. Changing by-laws for billionaires: Altering party rules and by-laws so the DCCC could formally vote to oppose Proposition 40 (the Billionaire’s Tax), making San Francisco the only local Democratic Party in the entire state of California to break ranks and oppose the state party’s official position. 3. Conflicts of Interest: Taking a $10,000 campaign donation from Chris Larsen, attending a Flock conference in Atlanta while at the same time blocking a resolution calling for an end to SFPD’s Flock surveillance contract unless enforceable protections against sharing data with ICE and federal agencies are guaranteed.
A party chair who changes rules to protect wealthy donors and shields political insiders until bad press forces damage control is morally bankrupt. She must step down.
Under party rules, if Tung resigns, the DCCC will elect a new chair, who will then appoint someone to fill Tung’s seat. Since the billionaire slate still controls the party, the new chair will no doubt be someone who voted to endorse Yekutiel and went along with the rest of the clown show of endorsements, and that chair will appoint another person who the billionaires can accept.
So unless everyone who voted for Yekutiel resigns, nothing will change but the names.
