Progressive mayor challenges rival to name 'three drag queens' in city: 'redeem yourself'
The San Francisco mayoral debate took an odd turn on Monday after Democrat Mayor London Breed asked one of her challengers, Mark Farrell, to name "any drag queens" and three LGBTQ advisers to his campaign.
"I’d like to ask Mark a question," Breed began saying. "You were at the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club and couldn’t name any LGBT advisers to your campaign. You were at the debate last week and couldn’t name any drag queens on your own."
"I was wondering if you could — this is an opportunity to redeem yourself. And if you could name three LGBTQ advisers for your campaign and three drag queens in San Francisco," Breed continued.
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In response, Ferrell – also a Democrat – said two on his staff are in the "queer community" but that he wouldn't identify them.
"We’re not going to revise the drag queen question from last week," Farrell punched back. "But what I will say is I’m incredibly proud of support that I have from the LGBTQ+ community here in San Francisco."
Farrell emphasized his track record of supporting San Francisco's LGBT community. During his tenure on the Board of Supervisors, he authored legislation to prevent same-sex couples employed by the city from facing federal taxation on their healthcare benefits, a measure enacted before same-sex marriage was legalized.
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"I will stand by my record of that, and I look forward to the continued support from our queer community throughout the city of San Francisco," he said.
Daniel Lurie, another Democratic mayoral candidate on stage, lobbed a "softball" question at Breed, asking her to name three nonprofits she shuttered due to poor performance.
"I can probably provide you a list of examples. I just don’t want to do it right here today," Breed replied.
Breed, who faces a dozen challengers to her re-election, was first elected in 2018 and helms the "worst run" city in the U.S., according to a WalletHub report published Tuesday. It ranked second-to-last in 2022.
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, however, Parisa Safarzadeh, a spokesperson for San Francisco Mayor London Breed's Office, derided the list.
"WalletHub does this every year and every year, it's misleading and inaccurate, because this study compares San Francisco's budget (City AND County) with other cities (City only budgets)," Safarzadeh said.
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A February poll by the San Francisco Chronicle showed that 80% of likely Asian voters were not satisfied with Breed's performance, while each of her two challengers received 17% support. Breed garnered only 10% approval.
Fox News Digital's Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.