In a blow to Mayor Daniel Lurie’s hand-picked District 4 supervisor, Alan Wong, the campaign leader who fought to create Sunset Dunes park is backing a challenger who wants to reopen the area to car traffic.

Lucas Lux, chair of Friends of Sunset Dunes and leader of the 2024 Proposition K campaign to close the Great Highway, is endorsing progressive City Hall staffer Natalie Gee for District 4 supervisor.

“While I could not disagree more with Natalie on Sunset Dunes, I believe she’s the best choice for District 4 supervisor,” Lux told The Standard.

Gee is running to unseat Wong, who was appointed by Lurie late last year. Gee, Wong, and other candidates, including merchant leader Albert Chow, support placing a measure on the ballot to overturn Prop. K.

Lux said Gee wants to create safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists, more housing, and better public transit. More important, he added, she has “a real chance to win.” Lux said he is endorsing Gee as an individual, as the nonprofit Friends of Sunset Dunes cannot make political endorsements.

Lux’s endorsement is a significant loss for Wong. Four rival candidates last week targeted his campaign for its support from a political action committee, SF Believes, that has received funding from Trump-aligned conservatives like WhatsApp founder Jan Koum. As supervisor, Wong has been distinctly car-centric (opens in new tab) in his policy focus for the housing- and density-resistant district, and his recent criticism of an affordable housing project has angered YIMBY groups.

The Sunset has had a turbulent few years. Prop. K passed citywide but failed within the district, a dynamic that contributed to the 2024 recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio, who had championed the measure. After a weeklong saga surrounding the appointment and resignation of Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz, Lurie appointed Wong to the seat. Wong voted for the mayor’s Family Zoning Plan in December. 

Wong, a former community college board member, has to run in June to serve the remainder of Engardio’s term through January 2027. In November, voters will elect a supervisor to a full four-year term.

Lux’s endorsement may mobilize swing voters in District 4, where about 35% supported Prop. K yet opposed the Engardio recall, and could prove a critical force in the competitive race.

Molly Rose, a Sunset resident and park supporter, said she shares Lux’s position and is also backing Gee.

“While we disagree about Sunset Dunes, I appreciate that she’s looking forward, not backward, on pedestrian and bike safety, as well as public transit,” Rose said.

Gee, a legislative aide for Supervisor Shamann Walton who is supported by progressive labor unions, said she is building a coalition and is glad Lux recognizes her experience and vision.

“I’ll be candid: Lucas’ support was a surprise. I didn’t seek it out,” Gee said in a statement. “We don’t see eye to eye on the Great Highway/Sunset Dunes.”

Tensions between Gee and Wong have intensified throughout the year. Gee’s boss, Walton, did not join Wong’s effort to place a measure overturning Proposition K on the ballot, and the two candidates have traded barbs (opens in new tab) in Chinese-language TV interviews. 

Wong’s campaign blasted the Lux endorsement as a backroom arrangement, saying it doesn’t make sense given their opposing views on the Great Highway.

“The idea that these same people are endorsing her for any other reason than her support for their issue is comical,” said Derek Jansen, Wong’s campaign strategist. “I don’t know what she promised them, but something isn’t adding up.”

Wong has the support of the city’s moderate establishment and is benefiting from significant outside spending, but his relationship with Sunset Dunes advocates has been rocky. After the supervisor announced his push to reopen the Great Highway in December, park supporters accused him of having “ghosted neighborhood groups” before backing the Sunset Dunes closure.

Engardio recall activists have launched yet another effort to close the Great Highway, gathering signatures in hopes of putting a measure to overturn Prop. K on the November ballot.