Big Tech Backs Breed for San Francisco Mayor. Will She Return the Favor?

Like many dutiful voters across San Francisco, I spent the weekend poring over my daunting 154-page sample ballot so I’ll be good and ready when polls open tomorrow. Per usual for this city, there's a slew of measures and candidates to consider. But it's San Francisco's race for mayor that's being most closely watched by municipal leaders around the country, and that will have wide-ranging implications for the American tech industry.

The mayorship’s leading contenders are London Breed, current president of the board of supervisors and a native San Franciscan raised in public housing by her grandmother; Jane Kim, a supervisor who’s lived in the city for years after growing up in New York; and Mark Leno, a former state senator and a small business owner. All would represent firsts as mayor—Breed, the first African-American woman; Kim, the first Asian-American woman; and Leno, the first who’s openly gay.