The Great Highway fight is haunting San Francisco's Sunset supervisor race

The fate of San Francisco's Great Highway has long been a sore spot for many voters in San Francisco's Sunset District. And as the race for the neighborhood's next supervisor enters its final month, the issue is as fraught as ever.

The four major candidates running to represent the neighborhood all back reopening the roadway on weekdays after the district endured an acrimonious two-year battle over a ballot measure that closed the Upper Great Highway to cars, and the subsequent recall of its supervisor, Joel Engardio, over his support of the measure.

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On a recent day, when candidate Albert Chow was door knocking, he made sure to explain how hard he would fight, if elected, to reopen the roadway.

One prospective voter, speaking to Chow at her door, said she cried when the roadway was closed to cars.

"I cried too," Chow told her.

"Keep trying," she said of efforts to reopen it. "I will definitely add you to the ballot."

Chow's zeal to reopen the roadway on weekdays is shared by his main opponents: Supervisor Alan Wong, who was appointed by Mayor Daniel Lurie, legislative aide Natalie Gee and political science lecturer David Lee. Only campus coordinator Jeremy Greco has said he wants to keep the status quo and Sunset Dunes, the park that replaced the roadway, fully open.

It's not just the Great Highway that has energized the politically moderate neighborhood. The majority Asian neighborhood with a large share of homeowners and car owners, once considered the city's sleepy outskirts, has become a hotbed for political mobilization in recent years. In addition to recalling Engardio, it's helped oust a former district attorney and three school board members. It's also pushed hard against Mayor Daniel Lurie's housing rezoning plan.

Now at a crossroads, the neighborhood will determine its future direction in the June 2 special election. The winner in June will face voters again in November when they decide who will fill a full four-year term.

Also on the ballot in November could be a ballot measure to reopen the Great Highway to cars on weekdays. While it has yet to qualify, Sunset residents are working to collect the needed 10,000 signatures to put the issue back to a citywide vote.

The fight over the roadway hasn't always played out in expected ways. Lucas Lux, the president of the nonprofit Friends of Sunset Dunes who led advocacy to replace the road with a park, endorsed Gee for supervisor.

Even though he disagreed with Gee's position on the highway, Lux said he liked her plans for traffic safety and affordable housing.

"The next supervisor has to find a way to bring our neighborhood together through common ground," Lux said. "I don't see Alan Wong or Albert Chow as being in any position to broker the trust necessary to bring the neighborhood back together because they've already breached the trust."

Lux is referring to Wong's failed attempts to put the Great Highway issue back on the ballot for this June's election.

Lux's endorsement riled some highway reopening proponents, including former Supervisor Quentin Kopp, who organized a news conference last week slamming Gee for not rebuffing the endorsement.

"It's hypocritical," Kopp told the Chronicle.

Gee, in response, said Lux's endorsement did not change her convictions.

That's not swayed some potential voters.

While out door knocking recently, Gee got pushback over Lux's endorsement.

"Hi I'm Natalie and I'm running for supervisor-" she said.

"Absolutely not," the man said, cutting her off and brushing past her. "You and Lucas Lux. Absolutely not."

As Gee walked away, she told the Chronicle that this was the "toxic politics" she disliked.

Beyond the Great Highway, candidates are talking about affordability, housing, economic vitality, street safety, police staffing and other bread-and-butter issues.

Backed by about $365,000 in union independent expenditures and endorsed by the progressive members of the Board of Supervisors, Gee is campaigning on "working class issues," she said.

If elected, she said she wants to protect rent-controlled units, reduce speeding, standardize placement of 4-way stop signs to improve traffic safety and fully staff the police department.

Wong is also campaigning on fully staffing the police department, as well as building more housing at all income levels and cutting bureaucratic red tape to support small businesses. Born and raised in the Sunset, Wong is a National Guard captain and former City College board president who previously also worked as a union organizer.

The self-described pragmatist argued that he isn't as divisive as some of his opponents.

"Even if I disagree with someone on one issue, I can work with them on another issue as well," Wong said.

Three of his opponents - Gee, Chow and Greco - have formed an "anybody but Alan Wong" coalition, criticizing the "big money" pouring into the race to back him. Moderate organizations and prominent Lurie donors have rallied for Wong.

Wong has benefitted from about $309,000 raised by the moderate, Lurie-aligned political organization GrowSF. A political action committee named SF Believes raised $1.1 million from just 15 donors, spending $200,000 on Wong and $60,000 opposing Gee.

The owner of Great Wall Hardware and president of the People of Parkside Sunset neighborhood group, Chow has raised the third-most, a little more than half of what Wong has brought in. Like Wong and Gee, the Sunset native is also campaigning on fully staffing the Taraval police station. He said he supports building affordable housing that "does not destroy the character of neighborhoods" and making it easier to start and run small businesses.

While out doorknocking recently, he had three doors slammed in his face, with one woman telling him to go to hell." It wasn't clear which issue had angered these Sunset residents, but Chow's role as one of the leaders to recall Engario might have cost him some prospective voters while winning him other fans.

The other candidates haven't raised as much money as Chow, Gee and Wong.

David Lee, a political science lecturer and former parks commissioner, has raised $98,000, and is running on "breaking up the monopolies," including PG&E and Recology. He said he wants consumers to get better electricity prices and for the company to be held accountable for the December blackouts in the Sunset.

Greco said he was running to rebuild trust in government. The only candidate to support keeping Sunset Dunes Park permanently, he's raised the least: $2,500.

Sunset residents say the future of their beloved community is at stake in this election.

On a recent evening at Sunset Dunes park, as waves crashed and birds squawked nearby, Yevgeniy "Eugene" Freyman took a walk just after filling out his ballot. The Sunset resident told the Chronicle he ranked Chow first.

Although the retiree enjoyed walking along the park, he's against the weekday closure of the roadway because of the traffic congestion and speeding that he's witnessed on alternative routes. He also disagreed with building highrises in the Sunset, which could be easier in some areas thanks to the mayor's "Family Zoning" plan.

Brian Ohlenschlager, who recently moved back to San Francisco, is undecided on the candidates but wants someone who'll fight to build more housing in the Sunset. Currently living with friends in the neighborhood, Ohlenschlager said he hopes he can eventually buy a home and settle down in the neighborhood.

"Maybe it's okay for the Sunset to not just be a suburb," he said. "A little more density wouldn't be a bad thing."

Sunset resident Molly Cornfield said as she strolled along the coast that Sunset Dunes was her favorite park. Although she is undecided on the race, she wants the city to become a place where "people have the freedom to be outside and walk."

At the same time, she said, she understood that "It's hard to take out a main artery and expect people to not be upset." Amid the "crazy" division in the Sunset, she said she hoped her neighbors would empathize with one another and work to understand their differences.

"What I want for the city is a place where people collaborate and support each other," she said.

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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 10:35 AM.