Mark Sanchez Endorsed by Sierra Club & Mark Leno, But Not Chris Daly

From today's Chronicle:

The level to which City Hall insiders have become fed up with Chris Daly seems to coincide with an ebbing of his sway and influence. No one knows how the November elections will come out, but Daly has taken an aggressive line to make sure his "progressive" supervisor candidates win.

But his status as kingmaker seems dubious. Early this week, Daly wrote an entertaining handicap sheet for the board on the Fog City Journal Web site, fogcityjournal.com. In it, Daly said he'd advised Green Party candidate Mark Sanchez, who is running against Daly's candidate, Eric Quezada, to drop out of the race.

"The campaign for Mark Sanchez has been largely a non-starter," Daly wrote, adding that there was "a lack of excitement in the district."

But the next day Sanchez announced - also in the Fog City Journal - that he'd gotten the endorsement of the powerful Sierra Club. And Thursday he revealed that he was endorsed by influential state Sen.-elect Mark Leno.

"Let's just say I decided not to take Chris Daly's advice," Sanchez said Friday.

The Sierra Club endorsement is particularly galling since Daly blustered last month in a well-publicized e-mail that if anyone crossed him on an important vote, "I ... have committed to make it my personal mission ... (that person will) ... never receive the endorsement of the Guardian, Tenants Union, Sierra Club, and Milk Club."

Kudos to Mark for getting these endorsements and some free publicity thanks to Chris Daly.