2003 San Francisco mayoral election

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:ElectionsCA The 2003 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 Supervisor Gavin Newsom and then president of the board of supervisors, Matt Gonzalez and former supervisor Angela Alioto. No candidate received the required majority, so the race went into a run-off of the two top candidates, which were Gavin Newsom and Matt Gonzalez. The run-off occurred on December 9, 2003, where Gavin Newsom was elected mayor of San Francisco.

Municipal elections in California are officially non-partisan, though most candidates in San Francisco do receive funding and support from various political parties.

In 2003, then-supervisor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, ran in a large field of challengers, including Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez, Supervisor Tom Ammiano, former supervisor Angela Alioto, city treasurer Susan Leal, and former police chief Tony Ribera. Newsom and Gonzalez took first and second place, respectively, but neither won a majority, so the two advanced to a runoff election.

Newsom ran as a moderate against leftist/progressive Gonzalez, a member of the Green Party. It was the first mayoral election in San 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. The strong showing of the Green Party's performance can somewhat be attributed to Peter Camejo making an rare second-place finish in San Francisco County behind incumbent Democratic governor Gray Davis and ahead of Republican Bill Simon in the 2002 California gubernatorial election, a year prior.

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample sizeTemplate:Efn	Margin of error	Matt Gonzalez (G)	Gavin Newsom (D)	Other / Undecided
SurveyUSA	December 2–4, 2003	534 (CV)	± 4.3%	50%	48%	2%

Results

Template:Election box write-in with party link no changeTemplate:Election box runoff no change

San Francisco mayoral election, 2003

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Gavin Newsom		41.92
		Matt Gonzalez		19.57
		Angela Alioto		16.08
		Tom Ammiano		10.31
		Susan Leal		8.48
		Tony Ribera		2.41
		Michael F. Denny		0.44
		Roger E. Schulke		0.36
		Jim Reid		0.35
Total votes				100.00
		Gavin Newsom		52.81
		Matt Gonzalez		47.19
Total votes				100.00