Brown Coasts In San Fran Vote

(AP)  Mayor Willie Brown, the kingmaker of California Democrats, easily fended off a challenge from the left to win re-election Tuesday, defeating an openly gay politician who may have been too liberal for even this most liberal of American cities.

With 75 percent of precincts reporting, Brown 62 percent of the vote, to Tom Ammiano's 38 percent.

"You have no idea how relieved I am," Brown told the cheering crowd at his victory party at Fisherman's Wharf, where 600 supporters went wild as he put on a baseball cap emblazoned with the words "Still Da Mayor" in gold.

Polls gave Ammiano only a slim chance, though he waged an aggressive populist campaign after forcing his way on Nov. 2 into the runoff in a last-minute write-in campaign. He was outspent more than 10-to-1 by Brown.

"I am not conceding the war. I am conceding the battle," Ammiano said.

Brown hasn't lost an election since 1964, when he reached the state Assembly by campaigning as an anti-development crusader. He served 31 years, including 14 1/2 as speaker, the longest tenure of anyone in the Legislature's most powerful post. And he relished his power, describing himself as "The Ayatollah of the Assembly."

Forced out by term limits that voters imposed largely in reaction to his imperial tenure, Brown became the city's first black mayor in 1995. He presided over a booming economy, adding 4,000 jobs to the payroll and a $1 billion to the budget.

Ammiano, the president of the city's Board of Supervisors, a former teacher and sometime standup comic, had promised to preserve San Francisco's character and fight gentrification.

The city's economic establishment found Ammiano's ideas so alarming that business interests, labor unions and even the county Republican Party endorsed Brown -- and poured $1.4 million into the race in the last two weeks.

"My voice may be high, my orientation may be gay, my politics may be left, but we are right," Ammiano said to his supporters. He criticized the soft money that supported Brown and vowed to run again for mayor in four years.

Some regarded the race between Brown, 65, and Ammiano, who turns 58 Wednesday, as a battle for the soul of San Francisco.

The Internet boom has driven up rents and priced some middle-class families right out of town, and Starbucks and other chains have moved in, alarming those who prize San Francisco's distinctive, bohemian neighborhoods. At the same time, the city's much-maligned public transit system, which Brown promised to fix in his first 100 days in office, still needs fixing.

Ammiano campaigned for an $11-an-hour "living wage" and promised to "immediately declare war on any and all gentrification" to help preserve affordable housing. He also supported last month's ballot measure that banned some ATM fees.

Brown acknowledged the city's problems but said Ammiano lacks the political skills needed tforce developers to add affordable housing and ease traffic.

Ammiano would have been the first openly gay mayor of a major American city, but both men have support in San Francisco's large and politically active homosexual community. Brown has long supported gay rights issues, and many gay voters said the election would not hinge on sexual orientation.

By Michael Warren
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