San Francisco's "Blair Witch" mayor's race

Ammiano's upset second-place finish is a startling development in what has been one of the nastiest mayoral races in recent memory. As Reilly's campaign began to gain momentum, Brown hammered his rival on charges that he abused his girlfriend, a fellow campaign consultant, 20 years ago. Reilly tried to brush the charges aside by saying that he once had a drinking problem, which had led to other difficulties, and that he had stopped drinking years ago. But his campaign never recovered.

Reilly tried to hit Brown back with attacks on the mayor's influence peddling, poor political ethics and broken promises on issues like solving the city's homeless problem and its embattled public transportation system. He accused Brown of running "the most corrupt City Hall administration in my lifetime."

Reilly, who was once one of the state's top Democratic political consultants, running the gubernatorial campaigns for Dianne Feinstein and Kathleen Brown as well as Jordan's failed 1995 re-election bid, took a big hit in the polls after the charges about his personal life were made public. But he was also the candidate hurt most by Ammiano's late entry into the race. Reilly worked hard to cultivate many of the city's working-class neighborhoods, which ended up being the base of Ammiano's support. The gay supervisor's last-minute run also cost Reilly the endorsement of one of the city's most liberal weekly newspapers, the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Brown, meanwhile, parlayed support from the state's Democratic establishment -- including both U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, herself a former San Francisco mayor, and Gov. Gray Davis -- into a strong showing on election night. Brown's forces were aggressive in their mail and phone-banking, even enlisting an electronic phone message from President Clinton on Brown's behalf that went out to the city's registered Democrats.

Jordan, the centrist ex-mayor who is perhaps best remembered for posing naked with radio DJs Mark and Brian during his 1995 failed reelection bid, maintained a loyal core of voters, but was never able to rebuild the coalition that propelled him to office in 1991.

Election night brought a truly eclectic San Francisco crowd to Ammiano's makeshift headquarters at Josie's Cabaret and Juice Joint in the city's Castro district, where Ammiano still performs comedy occasionally. "This campaign is rejuvenating San Francisco," he said. "We just tapped into the frustration that people had, and they didn't know where to put their energy."

Some of those people gathered at Ammiano headquarters Tuesday night included members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in full face makeup, clad in habits, sipping Budweiser from a straw, and one supporter in a satin jacket with an Ammiano for Mayor pin on the front and "The Transsexual Menace" emblazoned on the back.

Knowing he was in for a long night, Ammiano offered words of encouragement to his enthusiastic group of supporters. "I don't think we have many results yet, but what the hell, it feels good," he told the packed house. "And remember, a little ice on the eyes keeps them from getting puffy."

Brown spokesman Johnston said Ammiano certainly has "a lot of momentum" heading into the runoff, but that "a lot of his supporters are the true believers. Mayor Brown draws his support from a wide array of San Franciscans."

Elections officials Wednesday said they did not expect to have a final tally until sometime Thursday or Friday evening.

The race to the runoff is likely to be nasty, brutish and short. Ammiano can be expected to draw funding from gay groups nationwide, while Brown returns to his corporate supporters, who are likely to dig deep into their pockets to stop the ultra-liberal Ammiano from taking over City Hall. The Chamber of Commerce strongly opposes Ammiano, who has sponsored living-wage legislation to raise local salaries and has tried to increase local business taxes.

A Brown-Ammiano race will also split the city's reigning left-liberal coalition, and it could have racial overtones. Brown worked hard to turn out the city's black vote, and his success will not be known until more votes are counted. Ammiano's supporters come in all colors, but tend to be disproportionately white liberals and progressives. The pair will likely fight over the city's growing Asian and Latino vote.

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