Who Will Ed Lee Endorse for Mayor?

Ed Lee wants his old job back because he gets paid more!

​The Examiner's Melissa Griffin tells us this morning how she bumped into Mayor Ed Lee and his wife, Anita, during a night on the town. Naturally, she couldn't help herself. She walked up to a dapper Lee and blurted out: "Are you going to run for mayor?"

He and his wife shook their heads no, in an exhausted manner; tired from that question, we assume.

But there is some merit to asking that seemingly silly question. Griffin, now convinced that Lee wants his old job back as city administrator, hints at the sad fact that Lee might have to do some politicking to get it back.

And as we've noted before, Lee likes to maintain a drama-free zone at City Hall, a sign he has no interest in being a politician. And while he is good at many things -- getting Twitter to stay in the city, getting progressives to like him, and (almost) getting a budget deal done, politics is not really his thing.

And that's what everyone loves about him.

As Griffin points out, candidates who are vying for Lee's position as the city's chief executive are also going to be vying for his endorsement for the November mayoral race. This is relevant only because the next mayor has the authority to reappoint Lee to his old position -- or not.

"This may explain why he has yet to endorse anyone and also why he is sucking up to political insiders," Griffin writes.

So the question isn't "Are you running for mayor?" The question is "Who will Mayor Lee endorse?"

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