Tommi Avicolli Mecca: Why I Didn’t Run

Months of speculation about whether I would oppose Bevan Dufty ended with a whimper not a bang. I didn’t hold a press conference. Perhaps I should have. So it was curious to me when I read in Randy Shaw’s op ed in Beyondchron (“Reformers Happily Join the San Francisco Democratic Party Machine,” Sep. 05): “Some conjectured that Dufty had gotten something in return for endorsing (activist Robert) Haaland (for supe in D5 two years ago). There’s no way to verify this, but no prominent gay or lesbian candidate ever made a serious move to run against Dufty in District 8.”


I don’t know how to define a “serious move,” but I sure thought about it a lot. I consulted with a number of trusted allies: Matt Gonzalez, Tom Ammiano, Chris Daly and Greg Shaw, president of the Milk Club, all encouraged me to run. Many other people approached me, too. I admit I was flattered.

As for Shaw’s inference that there may be a connection between Dufty endorsing Haaland and no prominent gay or lesbian candidate opposing D8’s incumbent: I wasn’t talked out of the race by Robert Haaland. In fact, when I spoke to Robert about the possibility of running, he told me that he would support me no matter what I decided to do. Robert also tried to get AIDS Quilt founder Cleve Jones to jump into the lineup.

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