A well-connected San Francisco activist and trendy cafe owner has dropped out of the race for the city’s District 8 supervisor at the last minute due to a series of lurid sexual assault allegations.
His decision to withdraw from the race has seen the city’s Democratic powerbrokers throw their weight behind Gary McCoy, who has worked as a political director for Nancy Pelosi and was a VP of policy and public affairs at HealthRight 360, the city’s largest drug rehab nonprofit.
McCoy, a recovering drug user who was formerly homeless, has been a fierce advocate for decriminalizing drugs.
He has defended the city’s first safe consumption site that allowed people to use drugs under supervision and even went on a strike to try to get officials to authorize the use of safe consumption services.
Manny Yekutiel, who owns the Mission district hotspot Manny’s Cafe, has been accused of groping two men at a Pride party in 2023, the San Francisco Standard reported.
The cafe has previously hosted top Dems such as former VP Kamala Harris, Gov. Gavin Newsom and former First Lady Jill Biden.
The allegation follows an claim that emerged in July, in which he was accused of grabbing another man’s testicles at a house party in 2020.
Yekutiel released a statement denying the allegations but announcing he was withdrawing from the race.
“I am deeply sorry for any boundaries that I crossed. I’m going to take this time to work on myself,” he said.
“After a great deal of reflection I have made the difficult decision to end my campaign for District 8 Supervisor.
“Moving through the machinery of San Francisco’s politics has left me with very little light left in my heart.”
The second round of allegations prompted many allies who stuck with him to back down, including Mayor Daniel Lurie.
“Coming forward is hard and these survivors deserve to be heard, and treated with dignity and respect,” Lurie said in a statement, withdrawing his endorsement.
All city supervisors who had previously endorsed Yekutiel also withdrew their approvals, KQED reported.
Yekutiel was at a dance party called Electroluxx at the Midway when he encountered Ryan Clark, the Standard reported.
Clark alleged that Yekutiel groped his genitals and buttocks.
Clark told the candidate to stop and mentioned his partner was there.
Yekutiel then allegedly turned to the partner and put his hands down his pants to grope him.
The initial brushing aside of the first allegation back in the summer has now come under even more scrutiny and is causing backlash.
This week, San Francisco Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung issued an apology for its policy failing to adequately evaluate the sexual misconduct allegations and for the party to still endorse Yekutiel.
“This policy failed the first survivor to come forward, Brad Chapin, who took the courageous and painful step not only to file a formal complaint, but to stand up and speak directly before our committee during the District 8 endorsement hearing,” Tung said.
”I publicly and sincerely apologize to Mr. Chapin for how our process treated his complaint and for an endorsement decision that caused him further harm.”
Supervisor Connie Chan, who is running for Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat, said Tuesday she was calling on Tung to resign for that lapse in judgment.
Tung dismissed that resignation call in comments to the Standard.
“Under Nancy Tung, the San Francisco Democratic Party has lost all credibility,” Chan said.
