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Ripe for the Taking: 12th District Seat

With APIs representing over one-fifth of voters and over two-fifths of the population in the 12th Assembly District, the chances have improved for an Asian American Democrat to claim that seat after Kevin Shelley is termed out in 2002.

The Democratic candidate in the primary is expected to get an easy victory. Of the area’s registered voters, 15 percent were registered Republicans, 24 percent declined state party affiliation — and 55 percent were Democrats.

Under the revised open primary beginning March 2002, in order to win the Democratic nomination, a candidate can only draw votes from registered Democrats or those who “decline to state,” many of whom are API voters, including as many as 43 percent of Chinese American voters.

Already, there has been a “draft” movement for Superior Court Judge Lillian Sing. At a Jan. 26 press conference, the timing of the draft was made clear by emcee and U.C. Berkeley professor Ling-chi Wang, who appeared to want to put a stop to any momentum Sup. Leland Yee may have been picking up to run.

Yee is not a formal entrant, but both candidates have a lot in common. Both are educators, immigrants and bilingual speakers. And if Yee decided to run, they would be seeking the same base of Chinese American voters.

At the press conference, Wang characterized Yee as an ally of the mayor, even though the supervisor is known for being an “independent.” Wang also hinted that Yee supported the mayor on the board in return for his support for the assembly seat.

“We know that Leland has made a deal with the mayor,” Wang said. “The political reality is the people in control invariably will try to split the community and cause division.”

In December, District 4 (Sunset) Supervisor Leland Yee, won the runoff with 57 percent of the vote. In the citywide 1996 election for supervisor, Yee did very well in the 12th District, finishing second with 39 percent of the vote. The moderate Yee may have to consider whether to skip re-election as Supervisor in 2002 or continue being a backbencher, considering the leftward tilt of the new board.

In response to Wang’s comments, Yee replied, “In all these years, I don’t make deals with [the mayor], and he doesn’t make deals with me.”

On a run for Assembly, Yee said he would consider it in the “next several months.”

“I tend not to respond to pressure,” he said. “I’m a psychologist, so I’m very methodical.”

If Yee were to run, Sing is expected to campaign as the true “independent,” against “machine” politics. She should appeal (like Yee’s runoff opponent, John Shanley) to the old constituency of another superior court judge, Quentin Kopp. Both Sing and Yee could assert their “independence” by noting their past Republican support. Yee was endorsed by the S.F. Republican Party last year, and Sing could play up her support for Republican appointed judges such as Wallace Douglass, Kevin Ryan and Ernie Goldsmith, who defeated Democratic insurgents in recent elections.

Moreover, Sing is likely to have a strong Chinese American base. Already, the judge has the potential to undercut Yee’s support base. Her allies range from former president of the Chinese American Democratic Club, Hayden Lee; to Chinatown’s Rose Pak and her rivals, Pius Lee, Francisco Hsieh, and Benny Yee; and civil rights leader Henry Der.

However, Sing has some weaknesses. For one, as a judge, she has an air of integrity, independence and nonpartisanship, but she can’t campaign or raise money under the judicial canons of ethics. To run, she must at least take a leave of absence from the court. Yee or any challenger can take shots at her, while as a judge she can’t respond.

Sing also faces scrutiny of her record as a criminal court judge. San Francisco’s criminal courts are notoriously liberal on quality of life, capital punishment and prostitution issues, especially with D.A. Terence Hallinan’s alternatives to prosecution. The 12th Assembly District is not exactly the exemplar of Hallinan’s liberal philosophy.

Potentially, a moderate Yee could cast Sing as a liberal, as Willie Brown did to Tom Ammiano in the 1999 mayor’s race. Brown ended up winning overwhelmingly in the 12th District, with 69 percent of the vote.

A lot can happen between now and March 2002. Reapportionment may extend the district into other neighborhoods of San Francisco and attract a challenger, such as the popular Supervisor Gavin Newsom. The district could also move south into Daly City, which is majority API (specifically, Filipino American), and attract additional candidates.

STIR FRY OR DEEP FRY: E-mail your comments to me at samson@sfindependent.com or potsticker@prodigy.net.