A woman in a white blazer speaks at a panel, with a blurred foreground and a seal saying ‘FOR THE PEOPLE’.
Nancy Tung speaks during the Democratic Party Chapter meeting on Friday. | Source:Estefany Gonzalez/The Standard
San Francisco’s Democratic Party entered a new era Friday night as candidates from the city’s moderate political camp, who won in a landslide in the March election, were sworn into office.
The governing body, officially known as the Democratic County Central Committee, or DCCC, also elected Nancy Tung, a career prosecutor and chief-level attorney working for the District Attorney’s Office, as the party chair.
“Thank you everyone for this distinct honor,” Tung said. “Hopefully, we will be able to unify as we go towards November.”
She admitted that there will be growing pains as the committee changes leadership, and that it’s going to take some time to heal division within the party, but many of the new members are committed to doing that.
Tung received most of the support, while some progressive DCCC members voted to abstain from the vote.
Tung’s election as party chair marks an inflection point in her tumultuous political career.
A veteran prosecutor and daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Tung ran for district attorney in 2019 but lost to Chesa Boudin. In March 2020, she won a seat on the DCCC and Mayor London Breed soon after appointed her to the powerful police commission.
However, the Board of Supervisors rejected the nomination. appointed Tung to the police committee. During the wave of protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Tung was seen as too friendly with police at a time when progressive leadership and criminal justice reform were booming in San Francisco.
In 2022 , after Boudin was recalled, Tung was among the shortlisted candidates vying for Breed’s nomination to replace Boudin. But Breed ultimately chose Brooke Jenkins, and Tung later joined Jenkins’ administration.
A group of people took photos in a room with a seal on the wall.
Committee members The Newly elected officials of the Central District Democratic Party pose for a group photo on Friday. | Source: Han Li/The Standard
The San Francisco Democratic District Central Committee has faced a major push by moderates to gain control of the party’s relatively obscure board .
Moderates argue that the San Francisco Democratic Party has failed to communicate with San Francisco voters, taking unpopular positions on the 2022 recalls and abolition issues other votes. The candidates aim to restore what they see as a tarnished political image.
To that end, the newly elected committee passed a number of symbolic resolutions that articulate its priorities, such as in support of labor unions, public safety, school district student excellence and building more housing. The next meeting will be held a month later in May.
Tung was among the top winners in the March DCCC election, and she will serve with a mostly friendly group of colleagues after moderates captured a supermajority.
Moderate-leaning candidates won a total of 18 elected seats, while progressives got six. Eight more seats are for ex-officio members, who are federal or state-level elected officials such as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.
The local party chapter will soon face difficult choices, however.