Following the social upheavals of the 1960s, San Francisco became one of the centers of liberal activism, with Democrats, Greens, and progressives dominating city politics. This trend is also visible in the results of presidential elections; the last Republican to win San Francisco was Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Although the fight between Democrats and Republicans has been unequal for the last forty years, it has become increasingly lopsided. In spite of its heavy liberal leanings, San Francisco has the highest percentage of "no party preference" voters of any California county. Campaign corruption is monitored by the San Francisco Ethics Commission.
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State and federal representation
In the California State Senate, San Francisco is in the 11th Senate District, represented by Democrat Scott Wiener. In the California State Assembly, it is split between the 17th Assembly District, represented by Democrat David Chiu, and the 19th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Phil Ting.
In the United States House of Representatives, San Francisco is split between California's 12th and 14th districts, represented by Nancy Pelosi (D–San Francisco) and Jackie Speier (D–Hillsborough), respectively. Pelosi was House Speaker from 2007 through 2011, when Democrats were in the majority. Since then, she has held the post of House Minority Leader, a post she also held from 2003 to 2007.
Local politics
The city is governed by a Mayor and an 11-member Board of Supervisors, both elected using preferential voting. The current mayor is Ed Lee, who was appointed by the Board of Supervisors on January 10, 2011, after Gavin Newsom resigned to serve as Lieutenant Governor of California.