Daly leading Black in San Francisco
Chamber of Commerce poll

By Emmett Bergr, Bay City News Service

October 19, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - A vice president at the San Francisco Chamber Commerce said today "it's too early" to gauge the Nov. 7 race for District 6 supervisor between incumbent Chris Daly and challenger Rob Black, even as a chamber-commissioned poll showed Daly in the lead.

Jim Lazarus, the chamber's spokesman for public policy, said last month's poll of 600 likely voters showed incumbent Chris Daly leading his main challenger, Rob Black, by 10 percentage points.

Daly had the support of 34 percent of respondents, compared to 24 percent for Black, with 26 percent undecided, 11 percent preferring other candidates and 7 percent refusing to respond, according to Lazarus.

The same poll found Mayor Gavin Newsom with an 80 percent approval rating, more than one year out from the 2007 mayoral election. Newsom's high approval was touted in statements from the Chamber while the District 6 polling was absent from the public release of the poll today.

"The polling for District 6 was done a month ago," Lazarus said. "It's too early."

Lazarus said polling for the District 4 open seat race to succeed Supervisor Fiona Ma was also left out of the public release of the poll.

Lazarus said supervisorial races had a low level of campaign activity and name recognition until the days immediately preceding Election Day, making polling "pretty inconclusive," he said.

Besides Newsom's 80 percent approval rating, the poll reported 65 percent in favor of requiring a public hearing before "any proposition could be placed on a ballot," and a majority supported preventing supervisors from placing propositions on the ballot while running for re-election."

Currently it takes only four votes on the 11-member Board of Supervisors to place a proposition before voters.

The mayor also has unilateral authority to place propositions before voters.

David Binder Research conducted the poll for the Chamber. The results have a margin of error of 4 percent.

Copyright © 2006 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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