Sup. Alioto-Pier’s (sort of) Pyrrhic Victory Today

Breaking News! Sup. Michela Alioto-Pier, fresh off a failed bid for Insurance Commissioner, fought in court and “won” a victory today – her name can appear on the ballot after all, despite term limits, to run for re-election as Supervisor after all.
At least, that’s the headlines. Take a closer look and you’ll see why this is a Pyrrich political victory, SF-style.
See, while Her Supervisorness was off either not running for re-election or for Insurance Commissinoer or whatever, Other Candidates decided to run. And unlike the joke candidates Sup. Alioto-Pier faced in the past as an incumbent, these candidates are very credible, and very competitive.
Janet Reilly has the endorsement of pretty much everyone on the political scene, somehow managing to get the support of both progressives and “moderate” Democrats, and endorsements from both Aaron Peskin and Mayor Newsom. (Go research when the last time those two agreed on anything, much less the wide variety of politicians and community leaders from all sides did).
Mark Farrell is also a very credible candidate, having raised a lot of money early in the race, hiring a crack campaign team, and who has been running for this office for some time now. He is also a credible candidate, like Mrs. Reilly.
In every campaign where Sup. Alioto-Pier has faced Credible Candidates, she has lost each time. She may have the incumbency badge, but this late in the game it’s hard to see much of either Reilly or Farrell’s supporters peeling off to support someone who as recently as a few months ago was running for another office.
Congratulations, Supervisor. Now let’s see how things shake out when our Supervisorial elections aren’t simply rubber stamps for incumbents.