SAN FRANCISCO—On Friday, January 8, San Francisco Board of Supervisor Shamann Walton was voted 11-0 as the new President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In a unanimous vote, Walton was elected as president for the next two years.
He was congratulated via Twitter by his colleagues, including Supervisors Ahsha Safai, Dean Preston, Matt Haney, and Hillary Ronen.
In a January 8 tweet, Haney said:
“Congratulations @shamannwalton, new President of the Board of Supervisors. This is a huge win for our city. D6 and D10 face some of the biggest and similar challenges of poverty, homelessness, crime…Let’s work.”
This comes the same day that all 11 members of the board were sworn in for a new term. Nine of the eleven supervisors returned for another term while two were sworn in for the first time: newly-elected Supervisor Myrna Melgar and Supervisor Connie Chan.
Walton, who has represented District 10 since 2019, is the first African-American man to serve as president. Three African-American women who previously served this role include now-Mayor London Breed, Police Commissioner Malia Cohen, and Doris Ward.
Now president, Walton is next in line to serve as the Mayor of San Francisco if Breed is no longer capable. Breed took over former Mayor Ed Lee’s role after he unexpectedly died from a heart attack in December 2017. She ultimately won a special election in 2018 to finish his term and a full term in 2019.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will hold a meeting on Tuesday, January 12 at 2 p.m.
