The results are in and newcomer Bilal Mahmood has defeated incumbent Dean Preston for the District 5 Supervisors seat in San Francisco.
While some in the city may be surprised by the outcome, Bilal said he was anything but.
“I have been underestimated in my career, from the private sector to the entire sector, from the moment I ran for office, but we kept our heads down and we did the work and we spoke to voters,” Mahmood said.
KPIX spoke with Mahmood at Shalimar, a Tenderloin restaurant he has been going to since he was a kid.
“I still think it’s the best in town, but you can’t beat their chicken,” Mahmood said.
Over a plate of chicken and rice, he shared his thoughts on why his campaign was so successful.
“In San Francisco, for too long the focus has been on ideology rather than compromise, on kind of textbook definitions of how to address housing and security, but we built a coalition of a campaign that included people from progressives and moderates,” Mahmood said.
He is one of the candidates in this election who has benefited from what many see as the movement of San Franciscans from more liberal candidates and policies to more moderate ones.
Sachin Agarwal is co-founder of GrowSF, a group that spent years trying to oust Dean Preston and backed Mahmood.
Sachin said the win shows the city wants change and new leadership to implement that change.
“What we’re seeing in San Francisco is a return to common sense. The things we try to fight for in this city, like public safety and good public schools. These are just the basics, and what we had at City Hall for. For so long, there were people who did not prioritize the needs of the ordinary residents here,” Agarwal said.
Mahmoud told KPIX he is willing to work with his fellow supervisors and newly elected Mayor Daniel Lurie to meet these needs.
He said he supports Lurie’s pledge to declare a fentanyl emergency on day one. He also plans to work with Lurie to address the city’s housing problems.
“I think we approach things in a similar way. We both recognize that many of the problems in San Francisco have been bureaucracy and unfortunately bureaucracy often leads to corruption and so we are both aligned on how to solve our housing crisis. reduce red tape,” Mahmood said.
He said he is optimistic that voters will see real change when this new leadership takes over.
He said he is honored to be part of it, especially as the board’s first Muslim and South Asian supervisor.
