“I cannot support a different shade of blue,” Yap said, referring to what she sees as the narrow political spectrum dominated by Democrats in San Francisco. “If we want systemic change in the city, we need to bring a second party here.”
But challenging one-party dominance in San Francisco is a tall order, as the local GOP has struggled to regain relevance for decades. Its limited influence is reflected in March 5 vote tallies. Yan and Lou received about 3,400 and 3,000 votes, respectively, ranking first in the two RCCC races. However, the top winners at the Democratic County Central Committee races, Supervisors Catherine Stefani and Matt Dorsey, garnered 36,200 and 41,800 votes, 10 times more than their Republican counterparts.
Alongside the surprise victories of Yan and Lou, the San Francisco GOP elected a new slate of leadership that views Asian American voters as critical to the party’s revival.
The Briones Society, a new “center-right” Republican group whose members have distanced themselves from far-right Trump supporters, won 17 out of the total 25 RCCC seats, a decisive majority that could shake up the party. The group chose the name to honor Juana Briones, a 19th century ranchera and entrepreneur lauded as the “founding mother of San Francisco.”
San Francisco Republican Party members constitute about 7% of the city’s total registered voters, and even though the two top winners are Asian Americans, the party’s general membership is largely white. Nationwide, 85% of Republican voters were white as of 2022, according to Pew Research.
Jay Donde, the leader of the Briones Society, said its members are paying close attention to the needs of Asian American residents, which comprise one-third of the city’s population. He said that rising dissatisfaction with “far left” policies among Asian Americans creates recruitment opportunities for conservative groups.
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