The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) met virtually Sunday evening to reconsider its endorsement in the District 8 supervisorial race, while also deliberating over the leadership of Nancy Tung, its chair. After a contentious three hour session, the committee voted to rescind its endorsement of Manny Yekutiel, who faces multiple accusations of sexual assault, and endorse now frontrunner Gary McCoy.
Meanwhile, Tung endured slings and arrows from detractors, but also praise from supporters, during deliberation and public comment. The meeting ended with no action taken or proposed against Tung and with the resignation of former Supervisor Gordon Mar, a leader of the committee’s progressive bloc who had urged Tung’s resignation.
The Yekutiel controversy
The meeting came in the wake of controversy over the committee’s endorsement of Yekutiel, who was the frontrunner in the D8 race and had already garnered significant political support before multiple witnesses accused him of sexual assault. Brad Chapin, a progressive activist, accused Yekutiel of assaulting him at a house party in 2020 in a San Francisco Standard story published in June. The San Francisco Chronicle shed more light on the accusation some weeks later, detailing aspects of the inconclusive police investigation.
“I think most of these calls are political sour grapes. Devaluing the Democratic Party’s endorsement is always a priority for those who don’t have that endorsement”
— DCCC member Matt Dorsey
Yekutiel continued to maintain his innocence, but the Democratic Party voted to postpone endorsing in the District 8 race while investigating the matter and making its picks in other races on July 22. The investigation was conducted based on a policy proposed by Tung and others and approved by the DCCC in 2024.
The new policy alienated some progressive groups and activists aligned with local political figures including affordable housing lobbyist Jon Jacobo, currently facing rape and related charges filed in 2024 over an alleged incident in 2021, and Kevin Ortiz, a former president of the Latinx Democratic club and Congressional staffer who was accused of sexually assaulting women in 2019 and 2021.
On Aug. 26, the party’s investigation controversially failed to confirm the allegation, having limited itself to whether any assault occurred within the context of official party business, a decision widely decried as overly obtuse. The party narrowly voted to endorse Yekutiel that evening at a tension-filled meeting which featured Chapin and his supporters pleading against the endorsement.
On Oct. 1, the Standard reported an additional accusation against Yekutiel, from a couple who alleged he assaulted them in 2023. Yekutiel said that he did not recall the incident but withdrew from the District 8 race. Progressive and other groups denounced DCCC leadership and began calls for Tung to resign.
More issues in the background
Nearly two thirds of Sunday’s meeting was taken up by a public comment session. The issue of whether Tung should resign fell along factional lines. Progressives took issue not only with the Yekutiel endorsement, but for other decisions by the committee, which angered them, including changing the rules, to allow endorsement of a position on Proposition 40, the “billionaire tax,” as well as its handling of dueling resolutions regarding the use of Flock safety cameras by the city, which had become controversial over revelations of data misuse.
Mar, who championed a resolution calling for the city to suspend use of Flock cameras that was voted down, railed against Tung on Sunday.
“The DCCC has become an absolute embarrassment to most people who uphold democratic values. Tonight’s special meeting is just the latest example of this,” Mar told colleagues. “Under your leadership, and this billionaire backed majority, the Democratic Party has essentially become a protection racket for wealthy donors and political insiders … prior political grandstanding, by Chair Tung and other DCCC leaders, about zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, collapsed like a house of cards when holding a political ally accountable became the test … It’s about a pattern of severe ethical failures and pay to play governance that has completely destroyed our party’s credibility in this city and statewide, period.”
Theresa Pasión, vice president of political affairs for the Latinx Democratic Club, also chimed in.
“We, as a club, call on Nancy Tung to resign, as she has lost all credibility in developing this flawed process on sexual assault and harassment. Tung made the sexual assault policy her crowning achievement, weaponizing the process against political enemies in the name of justice. And 18 months later, Tung, along with members Trevor Chandler and Lily Ho, demonstrated that they have flexible morals when it comes to allegations against their friends, especially Manny. She must resign, and all those who support her will bear that next election.”
Jennifer Dempsey, a former president of the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee, argued that the endorsement was a choice rather than an unavoidable consequence of the rules. “No policy forced this committee to endorse an accused abuser… that was a choice,” she told attendees.
Tung defended
Tung’s critics were rebuffed by defenders who said that she had acknowledged the failure, apologized to Brad Chapin and the public for the policy failure, and deserved the opportunity to fix the policy she helped create.
“I think that Nancy deserves a lot of credit for taking on tough issues, including creating a code of conduct and policies for sexual assault and harassment. That is not something previous chairs have done, even when we probably should have,” District 6 Supervisor and DCCC member Matt Dorsey told colleagues.
“I think it speaks volumes to Nancy’s commitment to getting it right, that she issued a public apology. That’s what I expect of someone with principle and class, so I appreciate Nancy’s leadership. I don’t really respect demands that she stepped down, and charitably I think most of these calls are political sour grapes. Devaluing the Democratic Party’s endorsement is always a priority for those who don’t have that endorsement,” he added, alluding to what some observers have characterized as a longtime effort by progressives to degrade the relevance of a centrist-led DCCC.
Planning Commissioner Rachel Tanner spoke in support of Tung, invoking a quote from Maya Angelou: “When you know better, you do better. And she’s taken responsibility and accountability, and I think she’ll be leading us, hopefully, directing that further tonight. That’s what leadership really is.”
“The true winners from this unhelpful circular firing squad are the Republicans in Congress and the sexual predator in the White House,” said Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area.
Gregory’s participation in the call as a public commenter also reflected that debate over continuing support for Israel in the face of the Gaza war was yet another issue in the background of the factional conflict at the DCCC. One public commenter who demanded that Tung resign described Yekutiel as “a serial rapist and a threat to our community and a Zionist, a threat to the world.”
Trevor Chandler, one of two DCCC officers under fire for connections to Flock, gave a particularly pointed rebuttal to Mar and others.
“I want to be very clear about my disappointment in those who are using this difficult moment to engage in the same tired tribal San Francisco politics by targeting chair Tung,” he told those on the call. “No clear hypocrisy exists than calls from others from this body, like Jane Kim, who invited Jon Jacobo to an event just months after he was accused of rape. And then months later, didn’t feel like that disqualified her to run for insurance commissioner.” (Kim, a DCCC member, was not present at the meeting, voting by proxy.)
Chandler also directed criticism at Mar for creating “a fake issue around conflicts of interest, while he introduces a resolution that explicitly benefits his employer.”
The resolution in question was to urge UCSF to delay an integration plan for Oakland Children’s Hospital employees. Mar introduced the resolution and the committee approved it in June of 2025. Mar is political/policy coordinator for the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which was working to preserve union contracts at the facility.
After the meeting, Mar sent his resignation to Tung. The Voice has reached out to him for comment.
Moving forward, endorsing McCoy
After the public comment session and member deliberations the committee moved swiftly to rescind the endorsement of Yekutiel and then voted to endorse McCoy. The committee then voted to not endorse a second choice in the race. This was despite several calls by supporters of other candidates, notably Darshini Patel, for the committee to not endorse at all in the race and instead hold an additional forum for the remaining candidates.
Tung herself said she had met with Chapin and apologized both privately and publicly. She emphasized that his account involved more than just groping or touching, but a violent act that had impacted him over a period of years.
“What emerged from (our conversations), and he is okay with me sharing this, is that he and I have agreed to continue working on this policy, to make it better, to make it better for survivors, to make it better for us in political positions, to make better decisions. I am committed to making that happen.”
At the same time, a number of members called for a resolution asking Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate the charges against Yekutiel. Member and D5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood pledged to introduce it.
Tung also declared a commitment to staying in place as DCCC chair.
“If there are issues with my leadership, I am sure people will vote me out. But for now, I am committed to remaining chair. I am committed to making this policy better, improving it, and making sure that we just do better as Democrats.”
