After several days of counting votes and waiting for a concession in a close race, DSA SF member Dean Preston will officially become District 5’s next Supervisor. 

Preston, nicknamed “Extreme Dean” by his opposition, will join the Board of Supervisors on behalf of District 5 after unseating incumbent Vallie Brown. Preston ran on a platform to fight for more affordable housing and free MUNI. He also vowed to oppose homeless sweeps, rogue landlords, and mass incarceration. DSA SF endorsed Preston’s campaign early on, and DSA SF comrades showed up en masse to canvass for Preston throughout his campaign.  

Preston began his career as an attorney representing victims of police misconduct before moving on to full time housing work. Preston was a staff attorney for the Tenderloin Housing Clinic in San Francisco, where he defended tenants against evictions, substandard conditions, and fought for rent control. In 2008, he founded Tenants Together, a statewide tenants’ rights organization. Last year, Preston was one of the principal architects and advocates of San Francisco’s Proposition F. Proposition F passed last year, guaranteeing all San Franciscans facing eviction the right to counsel. He also provided seed funding and support for Proposition C, which secured funding to double housing and mental health care for our houseless population. Brown conceded the race to Preston on November 14. 

Asked about the incredible win in the District 5 race, Preston’s campaign manager and DSA SF comrade Jen Snyder stated: 

“We are so happy to have ran an unapologetically Democratic Socialist campaign and have been victorious. Dean called himself a Democratic Socialist in the intro of every single debate and forum. Most of our staff is DSA, and our platform is centered around the democratization of resources, universal rights, and equal access to power. The fact we won without ever compromising or telling voters anything but the honest truth about our platform has made us so hopeful for what we can do in the future. This campaign was a branch and continuation of so many other DSA SF projects, and that’s what it will continue to be in City Hall.”

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