Uncertainty Reigns In Replacing San Francisco Mayor Newsom

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Soon after the New Year, the city and county of San Francisco will need a new mayor.

That's because current Mayor Gavin Newsom was elected the state's next lieutenant governor, and he will be sworn into that office in January.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisor's has the authority to appoint an interim mayor until a permanent one is elected in November 2011. That 11-member board is politically divided and no single candidate appears to have garnered the necessary six votes to win the appointment.

If the supervisors fails to select an interim mayor, the board president automatically becomes acting mayor. Supervisor David Chiu is the current board president and he would be the first Asian
American to serve as the city's mayor if the job fell to him.

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