2018 San Francisco mayoral special election
A special election was held for Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco on June 5, 2018. The winner of the election will serve until 2020, filling the unexpired term of Ed Lee, who was elected in 2011 and 2015, and died in office on December 12, 2017. Upon Lee's death, London Breed, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, became Acting Mayor of San Francisco, but a vote of six supervisors replaced Breed with Supervisor Mark Farrell. The mayoral election was held concurrently with the statewide direct primary election. In San Francisco, the election for the eighth district member of the Board of Supervisors was also on the ballot.
Healthy San Francisco
Prior to the implementation of Healthy San Francisco, the city's safety net health care system for the low-income and uninsured consisted of several community health clinics, a public hospital (San Francisco General Hospital), and a citywide managed care plan. In Mayor Gavin Newsom's first term, he worked to extend the city-funded health insurance program, started under Mayor Brown, to young adults, a program that had been previously offered only to children. Newsom's more ambitious plan on healthcare began to take shape in 2007. In his budget proposal for fiscal year 2007-2008, Newsom announced his intention to provide universal health care for all city residents, based on long-time City Supervisor Tom Ammiano's plan. The care would be provided through the San Francisco Health Access Plan also known as Healthy San Francisco. The system planned to improve coordination between the current health care safety net, focus on preventive care, and implement information technology through the use of electronic enrollment and referrals. Newsom's proposal has prompted Oakland mayor Ron Dellums and San Mateo County's Board of Supervisors to look into possibilities for providing their own taxpayer-subsidized health care.