John Avalos Gets Ambushed by Run, Ed, Run Campaign

Courtesy of Avalos for Mayor campaign

Avalos tells Run, Ed, Run where they can stick their campaign signs

​The ubiquitous call for Ed Lee to run for mayor came knocking at the most unlikely of all places -- Supervisor John Avalos' campaign headquarters.

Over the weekend, Run, Ed, Run supporters walked into Avalo's newly opened campaign office on Octavia Street and asked him to sign a petition to encourage Lee to run in November. It was a politically surreal moment for Avalos, who had voted in favor of appointing Sheriff Michael Hennessey -- not Lee -- as interim mayor. But this time, he didn't have to explain why he didn't think Lee should be mayor -- it kinda went without saying.

"I don't think they knew I was a candidate for mayor," Avalos told us today. "It's hilarious."

Avalos tried to explain to a confused and persistent legion of Lee followers that there wasn't a chance in hell he was going to put a sign up in his office, and there was even less of a chance he'd sign the petition.

"I said I didn't think it was in my best interest to put up a Run, Ed, Run sign," Avalos says laughing. "But we couldn't communicate because they only spoke Chinese and I speak English."

Avalos' campaign manager placated the crew and took a few signs, but Avalos says he has no idea what happened to them. Needless to say, the weekend ambush caused no anxiety for the lone progressive candidate.

"I think there's a 95 percent chance that Ed Lee will run for mayor, but I've been thinking that a long time," Avalos says. "So while Bevan Dufty and all the other candidates are freaking out, I am just being Zen about it."

But would Avalos, who thinks Lee is doing a decent job at City Hall, have signed the petition had he not been in the race? 

"Encourage him to break his word? Not likely," Avalos says.

Follow us on Twitter at @SFWeekly and @TheSnitchSF