The 2022 California 17th State Assembly district special election was a special election to fill the vacant 17th Assembly District. The special election was called after incumbent Assemblymember David Chiu resigned the seat to become City Attorney of San Francisco. Matt Haney, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, won the election.
The blanket primary election was held on February 15, coinciding with the local special election on the same date. The general election was held on April 19, 2022. According to the Wall Street Journal, the election centered on the issue of "Which candidate wants to build more housing."
Background
On November 1, 2021, then-Assemblymember David Chiu resigned his Assemblymember position and was sworn in as San Francisco City Attorney. On November 15, Governor Gavin Newsom declared that the primary election would occur on February 15, 2022, and the general election would occur on April 19, 2022. The election was a two-round system. If no candidate won a simple majority of votes in the primary election, the top two vote-getters would face off in the general election.
Voter turnout for special elections is often lower than that of regular elections. However, after new vote by mail laws passed in California due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the most recent off-cycle election included unusually high turnout primarily via the vote by mail option. Turnout for the 2021 California gubernatorial recall election was 58%, twice as high as expected in a normal special election. If this trend holds, the California 17th assembly district special election could have similarly high turnout.
Candidates
Four candidates (all registered Democrats) were certified to run in the special election.
Bilal Mahmood, behavioral economics researcher, predictive analytics entrepreneur and policy analyst in the Obama administration David Campos, Chief of Staff for the San Francisco District Attorney, and former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Matt Haney, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Thea Selby, a City College of San Francisco trustee Following the primary election, David Campos and Matt Haney advanced to the general run-off election.
Issues
Housing
469 Stevenson Street
In October 2021, San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 against a housing development at 469 Stevenson Street in San Francisco. Supervisor Matt Haney, whose district the project was in, was among the three who voted in favor of the project. The proposed housing site, which is located in Haney's district and currently serves as a valet parking lot for Nordstrom, would have provided 73 affordable housing units on-site and 45 off-site, as well as created 1,000 union jobs. Haney argued in support of the project, citing “a homelessness crisis, a housing affordability crisis and a climate crisis" that necessitated more housing at all levels, including affordable housing. Bilal Mahmood and Thea Selby also supported the project.
David Campos opposed the project, arguing that the project would cause gentrification and displacement of low-income residents from the neighborhood. Haney countered: “I don’t think it prevents gentrification to keep a Nordstrom’s valet parking lot,” and noted that most low-income people living in the neighborhood have strong protections against displacement.
Pundits argued that it was unusual for the board to overrule the district supervisor on a land use rule. Because six of the supervisors had endorsed David Campos, they claimed the vote was about "punishing Matt Haney for running against David Campos."
In March 2022, the Haney campaign sent a print mail advertisement to voters about the Stevenson Street project. The mailer stated: “Matt Haney voted to build 495 units of housing for working families here – his opponent, David Campos, wants to keep it a valet parking lot." The Campos campaign accused Haney of flip-flopping on housing policy and disputed the number of homes that would be reserved and priced affordably for low-income households.