THE BUZZ: DUCKING ARROWS — After an extremely rough two weeks, San Francisco Mayor London Breed managed to outperform expectations in her final debate Thursday night. But will it be enough to hang on? The embattled incumbent pivoted from tough questions about recent local upheaval, making the case for the city’s emerging recovery and questioning her male opponents’ credentials — her sassy counterpunches drawing the biggest laugh lines. “Unlike some of my opponents on this stage, I actually have a job,” Breed said during the KQED-San Francisco Chronicle debate held at the broadcaster’s auditorium in the hip Mission District. While she held her own on stage, recent polling shows Breed has an extremely narrow path to victory in November and stubbornly-low approval ratings. Two recent crises have only compounded her problems. First, 49ers' wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest at Union Square in broad daylight. Then, City Hall was rocked as a Breed appointee stepped down amid a scandal over contracts awarded to a man she lives with. That’s why city political insiders expected Breed to limp into the debate — but it didn’t work out that way as she fired off quick comebacks and her rivals fended off questions on their own competency. Mark Farrell, a former interim mayor and venture capitalist, has been among Breed’s biggest critics and competitors. But Farrell has faced his own share of scrutiny in recent weeks over campaign finance questions. “Every single thing that I've ever done with my campaigns has been approved, vetted by and signed off by my attorneys,” he said Thursday. Debate moderator Marisa Lagos of KQED replied, “That doesn't mean it's necessarily legal, though,” as the in-studio audience burst into laughter. The swirl of ethical questions around both Breed and Farrell could create an opening for the third major candidate in the race, Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit executive and Levi Strauss heir. Lurie has started to gain in recent polling as he spends millions of his own wealth on TV ads. Lurie has leaned into the narrative that he’s running against “City Hall insiders” who are emblematic of City Hall’s “broken” culture, a line he repeatedly revisited throughout the debate. But Lurie’s attack lines had a tough time landing, at least on the debate stage. Breed razzed him, suggesting he hasn’t had a real job in years. And when Lurie recalled talking with Breed about the city’s challenges on the phone during the pandemic, she pounced. “I don’t even remember that phone call,” Breed said, drawing laughs. “I don’t remember it.” Another challenger on the debate stage was Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who has typically polled in fourth place. He vented to reporters afterward that he wasn’t given enough time to speak. Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, who’s polling in fifth place, criticized the frontrunners in the race, arguing they’ve ignored the needs of working people. While Breed might have exceeded low expectations for the debate, she only has six weeks left to break away from the pack. In her closing comments, she suggested the city is turning a corner. “Downtown is coming back, and the city is looking and feeling so much better,” Breed said, as she cited a dip in crime stats. But she has two challengers at her heels ready to remind San Franciscans how much the city’s reputation and quality of life has become a national punchline due to homelessness, rampant theft and drug addiction. Farrell is choosing the most dystopian lane: “Downtown today is scary. It's a shell of its former self.” And Lurie is running hard on the narrative that the city needs a non-insider: “The definition of insanity is electing the same people over and over again and expecting a different result.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official listed. His office said he will be taking action on “Bills, Bills, Bills.” Paging Destiny’s Child!
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