They are running for the exits. Another candidate has pulled out of the San Mateo County’s District 1 supervisor race — the third since former Congresswoman Jackie Speier joined the contest in September.
Jorge Quezada Flores, a 23-year-old county public health policy outreach officer who was making his first bid for public office, said in a campaign statement that he decided to suspend his campaign “after experiencing first-hand the mental toll that launching a grassroots campaign has on oneself and their loved ones.”
“I am forever grateful for those who have supported my efforts, from my campaign team to the members of our community,” Flores said in a statement. “Thank you for believing in me and having my back. Though I wish I could’ve kept the campaign going, I also have to look out for my own health and I will still do everything I can to help out my community through my job as a public health policy outreach officer with the county.”
Five candidates other than Speier have filed papers to run for the seat, which represents Burlingame, Hillsborough, Millbrae, San Bruno, parts of South San Francisco and the San Francisco International Airport. Outgoing District 1 Supervisor Dave Pine has reached his three-term limit and endorsed Speier as his successor.
Irving Torres backed out before Speier joined the race. And the two leading candidates by fundraising, Burlingame Councilwoman Emily Beach and Millbrae City Councilwoman Gina Papan, said in September they were ending their campaigns and supporting Speier after the veteran politician announced her candidacy.
With Flores out, Millbrae City Councilwoman Ann Schneider is Speier’s lone challenger.
And Schneider, who entered the race last month, said Tuesday that she’s “definitely in it and in it to win.”
Schneider, who formerly managed San Jose’s commercial recycling program and also managed Hewlett-Packard’s solid waste program, said she’s been in the trenches dealing directly with the issues local cities are facing, such as tax-base concerns from conversion of hotels to housing for the homeless.
“I have nothing but respect for Congresswoman Speier and what she’s done,” Schneider said. “But it isn’t good for Democracy to run unopposed. I adore Jackie, but she’s been living at a level well above those of us in the trenches.”
Speier, who began her career in politics in the 1970s as an aide to late Rep. Leo Ryan, and accompanied the Democratic congressman on his 1978 trip to Guyana to investigate the People’s Temple cult where he was gunned down and she was wounded in the Jonestown massacre, already has experience in the job.
In 1980 she became the youngest member of the San Mateo County board of supervisors, where she served until she won a state Assembly seat in 1986. She served in the state Senate from 1998 to 2006, when she won the congressional seat of her former boss, Ryan, and became a leading voice on women’s issues. She announced her retirement from Congress in 2021.
