The San Francisco mayoral debate took a bizarre turn on Monday when Democratic Mayor London Breed asked her opponent, Mark Farrell, to name a “drag queen” and three LGBTQ advisers to his campaign.
“I want to ask you a question, Mark,” Breed began. “You were in the Harvey Milk LGBT Democrats Club, and yet you couldn’t name a single LGBT advisor to your campaign. And you couldn’t name a single drag queen at last week’s debate.”
“This is your chance to redeem yourself. Can you name three LGBTQ advisors and three San Francisco drag queens to your campaign?” Breed continued.
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Former San Francisco interim mayor Mark Farrell told The New York Times he plans to run for mayor again, citing the city as a “laughing stock” under Mayor London Breed’s administration. (1. Justin Sullivan / Staff 2. Anadolu / Contributor)
In response, Ferrell, also a Democrat, said two of his staff members are in the “queer community” but declined to reveal their names.
“I’m not going to correct last week’s drag queen question,” Pharrell fired back, “but I will say I’m incredibly proud of the support I’ve received from the LGBTQ+ community here in San Francisco.”
Farrell touted his record of supporting San Francisco’s LGBT community. As a city council member, he authored a bill that prevented same-sex couples employed by the city from having to pay federal taxes on health care benefits, a measure that went into effect before same-sex marriage was legalized.
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City Hall in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Paul Chin/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
“I will defend that record and look forward to the continued support from the queer community throughout the city of San Francisco,” he said.
Daniel Lurie, another Democratic mayoral candidate at the podium, asked Breed a “simple” question, asking her to name three nonprofits she has closed due to poor performance.
“I could probably give examples, but I don’t want to do that here today,” Breed responded.
Mayor Breed, who faces 12 opponents for reelection, was first elected in 2018 and serves as the mayor of the “worst-run city” in the U.S., according to a WalletHub report released Tuesday, ranking her second-lowest in 2022.
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Drag queen Patty Gonia was recently named one of National Geographic’s Travelers of the Year. (Christopher Polk/Contributor)
But in a statement to Fox News Digital, San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s officescoffed at the list.
“While WalletHub conducts this study annually, it is misleading and inaccurate because it compares San Francisco’s budget (city and county) to other cities’ budgets (city-only budgets),” Safarzadeh said.
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A February San Francisco Chronicle poll showed that 80% of Asian voters were dissatisfied with Breed’s job performance, while her two rivals received 17% support each, compared with just 10% for Breed.
Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Cornick contributed to this report.
