The Mayor's Race at Midsummer

July 4th weekend is winding down and the election is about four months away. Here is a brief look at what each candidate for Mayor needs to do.

With the election only about four months away, San Francisco’s Mayor’s race has begun to take shape in San Francisco. Aaron Peskin, the last major candidate to declare his candidacy, did so about three months ago. There have been two debates and many more to come. All of the the candidates have been actively campaigning for months and many organizations and individuals have already made endorsements.

Summer of a campaign year has a particular feel. If a political campaign were a close baseball game, the summer would be innings three through six or so. It is no longer the early days of the campaign when voters and media are just learning about the candidates, nor is it the final two months or so, which always feel the most intense. Instead, summer is the middle innings. A rhythm of the campaign emerges; the smarter candidates do their work and the campaigns are preparing for the eighth and ninth inning when they have to, if you will pardon the continued baseball metaphor, push a few runs across the plate and get those final three outs.