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 Runoff electoral results by supervisorial district Newsom: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Gonzalez: 50–60% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The2003 San Francisco mayoral election occurred on November 4, 2003. The incumbent,Willie Brown, was termed out of office and could not seek a third term. The general election included three top candidates including then SupervisorGavin Newsom and then president of the board of supervisors,Matt Gonzalez and former supervisorAngela Alioto. No candidate received the required majority, so the race went into a run-off of the two top candidates, which wereGavin Newsom andMatt Gonzalez. The run-off occurred on December 9, 2003, where Gavin Newsom was electedmayor of San Francisco.
Municipal elections inCalifornia are officially non-partisan, though most candidates in San Francisco do receive funding and support from various political parties.
In 2003, then-supervisorGavin Newsom, aDemocrat, ran in a large field of challengers, includingBoard of Supervisors PresidentMatt Gonzalez, SupervisorTom Ammiano, former supervisorAngela Alioto, city treasurerSusan Leal, and formerpolice chiefTony Ribera. Newsom and Gonzalez took first and second place, respectively, but neither won a majority, so the two advanced to a runoff election.[citation needed]
Newsom ran as a moderate against leftist/progressive Gonzalez, a member of theGreen Party. It was the first mayoral election inSan Francisco that a Green Party candidate took a noticeable amount of the vote. The election was close, with Gonzalez leading in the polls and winning the popular vote among ballots cast on election day, while Newsom had a larger lead on absentee ballots.[citation needed] The strong showing of the Green Party's performance can somewhat be attributed toPeter Camejo making an rare second-place finish inSan Francisco County behind incumbent Democratic governorGray Davis and ahead of RepublicanBill Simon in the2002 California gubernatorial election, a year prior.
Newsom would later be electedGovernor of California in 2018 and 2022. Also, futureVice PresidentKamala Harris was concurrentlyelected San Francisco District Attorney on the same ballot.
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Matt Gonzalez (G) | Gavin Newsom (D) | Other / Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA[1] | December 2–4, 2003 | 534 (CV) | ± 4.3% | 50% | 48% | 2% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gavin Newsom | 87,196 | 41.92 | |
| Green | Matt Gonzalez | 40,714 | 19.57 | |
| Democratic | Angela Alioto | 33,446 | 16.08 | |
| Democratic | Tom Ammiano | 21,452 | 10.31 | |
| Democratic | Susan Leal | 17,641 | 8.48 | |
| Republican | Tony Ribera | 5,015 | 2.41 | |
| Libertarian | Michael F. Denny | 925 | 0.44 | |
| Independent | Roger E. Schulke | 735 | 0.36 | |
| Independent | Jim Reid | 733 | 0.35 | |
| Write-in | 131 | 0.06 | ||
| Total votes | 208,028 | 100.00 | ||
| Runoff election | ||||
| Democratic | Gavin Newsom | 133,546 | 52.81 | |
| Green | Matt Gonzalez | 119,329 | 47.19 | |
| Total votes | 252,875 | 100.00 | ||
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