Go back to News pageSAN FRANCISCO -- After Tuesday's stunning defeat of Supervisor Annemarie Conroy, San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan won't be seeing as much of his goddaughter -- and he'll probably have to wave good-by to some of his legislative agenda as well.
As the mayor's strongest ally on the 11-member Board of Supervisors during the past two years, Conroy made sure that Jordan's conservative law-and-order message had a firm, unwavering voice.
But by ousting the Republican attorney and electing Tom Ammiano and Mabel Teng on Tuesday, San Francisco voters have given the traditionally wild and crazy board an unmistakable liberal tilt -- and a much better shot to challenge and override Jordan on controversial legislation.
"This is going to make things more difficult for us," said a downcast Jim Wunderman, the mayor's chief of staff, as election returns showed Conroy losing ground all night. "It's exactly the opposite of what everybody expected."
Supervisor Angela Alioto, outgoing president of the board, crowed: "You bet this was a referendum on Frank Jordan. He and (consultant) Jack Davis took a lot of hits."
Conroy, 30, offended the city's vast liberal majority almost from the day she was appointed by Jordan in April 1992. As the mayor's kin and an unabashed GOP booster, Conroy could not have been farther from her predecessor Doris Ward, a black liberal who left the board to become city assessor.
Conroy's take-no-prisoners attitude was a constant source of aggravation for her colleagues. Nevertheless, some thought that her relentless campaign theme of cutting government costs might have enough resonance with voters to make her the board president.
But local Democratic Party officials worked hard to isolate her during the campaign's final weeks. At least three Democratic mailers urged voters to throw Conroy off the board after she was endorsed on consultant Clint Reilly's "Democratic Voter's Check List" slate card.
"It was such an obvious affront to the truth that the official Democratic Party had to respond," said Matthew Rothschild, chairman of the party central committee. "People knew she campaigned for Reagan and Bush. They knew her politics."
By 10 p.m. Tuesday it was clear that anti-Conroy voting had bumped her from the panel. Republican Party officials, expecting a strong Conroy showing to reflect massive GOP gains nationwide, were numb and would not talk to reporters.
Ammiano, on the other hand, made a triumphant entrance to cheers from supporters. The school board member and stand-up comic immediately dedicated his victory to his lover, Tim Curbo, who died Thursday of AIDS.
"He was my biggest supporter and a teacher in the public schools," Ammiano said. "He always reminded me to listen to the kids, to the parents and to the real people out there."
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