"Run Ed Run" has officially gone viral.
On Monday morning, 100 campaign organizers and supporters swarmed the steps of City Hall with a petition that they claimed contained 51,000 signatures encouraging interim mayor Ed Lee to run for mayor, according to KTVU.
Lee was appointed to the position of interim mayor in January to complete Gavin Newsom’s term when Newsom resigned to become Lieutenant Governor. At the time, Lee stated that he did not intend to run for mayor at the end of the term. The recent possibility of a Lee campaign has created a heated and divided debate throughout the city.
The Run Ed Run organization, founded by a group of five political figures -- including the president of the Planning Commission, the director of the Chinatown Community Development and a famous political refugee –- has been working for months to encourage Lee to run. Utilizing grassroots guerilla campaigning that has resulted in a couple of slightly embarrassing situations, the group has pulled out all the modern marketing stops, including flash mob street teams, pop art campaign posters and a “mustache revolution” section on the website.
On Monday, the group presented its final petition and declared that it was finished with its campaigning, even though Lee still has until August 12 to file intent to run.
“We want to give him some space (to make the decision),” co-chair Victor Hwang told SF Appeal. Lee did not attend the event and has not yet publicly announced his plans for a campaign.
While campaign plans are unclear, one thing is for certain: All eyes will be on City Hall come August 12.