Votes Still Counting In Tight D.A. Race
By Jason Ma

The district attorney’s race has turned into the never-ending story -- one that saw Terence Hallinan and Bill Fazio counting votes days after a runoff four years ago and that yesterday found them again duking it out over an even smaller handful of votes that will make the crucial call days or weeks from now.

As of 3:39 a.m., Hallinan had 98,340 votes to Fazio’s 97,817, with the 523-vote margin arguably vulnerable to the one precinct that remained to be counted. Trouble was, no one could find the box of ballots -- and even if it was found, talk of a recount has already been hinted at by both sides.

By 10:03 a.m., the box had been found. Hallinan remained 425 votes ahead, with 100,113 to Fazio’s 99,688. A number of provisional ballots remained to be counted.

The lead went to Fazio Tuesday night, but by early yesterday had shifted to Hallinan, inducing huge mood swings between the camps. As midnight grew near on Tuesday, some 200 Fazio supporters jubilantly celebrated what was then a 15-point lead over Hallinan. About 300 of the incumbent’s supporters, meanwhile, somberly gathered in the Fillmore.

“It was a tough election,” Hallinan said. “I’m just watching and seeing how it comes down, trying to wait and see.”

Hallinan soon caught up -- by 1:35 a.m., both candidates were exactly even with 93,401 votes each. Quipped Hallinan spokesman Ross Mirkarimi: “It’s a typical Hallinan comeback.”

The calculus behind the D.A.’s race represented an intricate political equation. A sizable chunk of Hallinan’s votes came from Ammiano’s gay and progressive base. Hallinan earned their votes back in 1996 through his defense of clubs selling medical marijuana, which proponents say can relieve AIDS-related nausea. However, support also came from Brown’s camp -- despite some undisguised friction, Brown and Hallinan maintained their endorsements of each other throughout the campaign.

Brown supporters Julie Lee, co-founder of the San Francisco Neighbors Association, and Port Commissioner Pius Lee made it to Hallinan’s party shortly after 1 a.m.

Julie Lee voiced optimism about Hallinan’s chances. “He’s more friendly toward Asians than Fazio,” she said. “He seems like a very good man. He has his own method.”

With the outcome almost certainly uncertain possibly weeks to come, the two candidates reiterated their commitment to San Francisco’s diverse groups, including its one-third API population.

Hallinan, who received the support of 6 of 8 Asian American elected officials in the city, said he would step up his already significant commitment to Asian Americans if he wins a second term.

“I want to really follow up on this office I’ve opened up in Chinatown at the Senior Center,” Hallinan said calmly just after hearing that he and Fazio were exactly tied. “I want to get a lot more consumer stuff and helping people out with consumer problems in Chinatown.”

While stressing that his office has eight API investigators and 22 assistant DAs -- far more than he said his predecessors have had -- Hallinan said he would be satisfied only by boosting the numbers more, especially in leadership positions. As he put it, frankly: “It’s not tokenism, but it’s not a fair representation.”

Hallinan also vowed to keep ordering his deputies not to report illegal immigrants to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. That, he said, helps ensure that immigrants who become crime victims are not afraid to come forward.

Supporter Pius Lee commended Hallinan’s sensitivity, and added praise for diversion programs for some domestic-violence offenders. Rather than putting spouses in jail and breaking up families, Hallinan “sends them to school to become better husbands,” said Lee approvingly.

Fazio had his own list of Asian American supporters, including the Chinese American Democratic Club and the Asian American peace officers’ association, as well as a wife of Samoan descent and Chinese American in-laws.

Like Hallinan, Fazio said Asian Americans would be well represented in his administration. Fazio added that he would establish a special liaison in the Police Department’s Central Station to deal specifically with Asian American problems, including, he said, gang activity. Both that and street crime represent “a big concern in the Asian American community,” he said.

Fazio also pledged that if elected, he would prosecute hate crimes aggressively, citing as an example this fall’s attack of three Chinese American women in Japantown by a group of African American youths.

Fazio’s Asian American supporters said his get-tough stance has played well with the community.

“Chinese Americans lean toward the law and order side of things,” said Republican Central Committee member Rodney Leong, who was among the 20 or so Asian Americans at the challenger’s party. Referring to the heritage of Fazio’s relatives, Leong added: “Having an API connection is a plus. It’s the icing on the cake, or soy sauce with the wasabi.”

Alluding to the Asian American elected officials who endorsed Hallinan, Leong said, “The Asian Americans in those positions had to play the political game. It’s pragmatism. Chinese Americans have always been good at pragmatism. In the end we all want the same thing. A lot of those backing Hallinan had a Willie [Brown] connection.

“Fazio has got a long record of doing the work. It’ll be a safer community for all of us. Quality of life affects everyone. Bill will do the work.”

Republican Central Committee Secretary Steven Fong said Fazio is more committed to enforcing “basic laws.”

“There are certain fears that APIs have of being targeted,” he said. “Fazio will be more aggressive.”

As Hallinan eked out a 500-vote lead, Fazio remained “guardedly optimistic,” though clearly more cautious. Adorned with Hawaiian-style leis and shaking hands with supporters at his election night party, the challenger said, “We all knew it was going to be tough.”

While the candidates’ respective campaigns up to Nov. 2 centered around Hallinan’s record and Fazio’s perceived conservatism, the gloves really came off in the six weeks before the runoff. The fight got nasty: Fazio’s campaign focused on a sexual harassment settlement that Hallinan had reached in 1994 while on the Board of Supervisors. Hallinan’s campaign, in turn, fired back with a flyer implying that Fazio had solicited sex at a massage parlor. Fazio said he had entered the establishment to speak with a client.

Perhaps the most damaging incident was an attack on Fazio’s record that instead backfired on Hallinan. During a debate last month, Hallinan suggested that convicted rapist and murderer Russell Coleman might have been wrongly put on death row by Fazio, who prosecuted the case.

The accusation blew up in Hallinan’s face when the family of murder victim Shirley Hill tearfully condemned the district attorney for what it said was a ploy to use Hill’s death for political gain.

“Negativity in the campaign has been unfortunate,” Fazio said, while acknowledging that “debates helped us a lot. The Coleman case hurt Hallinan.”

Though regretful for bringing up the Coleman case, Hallinan relished what has turned out to be a closer race than many expected.

“I liked this campaign,” he said, keeping a wrapped Cuban cigar in his breast pocket in the event of victory. “It was a tough fight.”