Fears for San Francisco as boss of city’s notorious open-air drug market wins election to help lead squalid city

Gary McCoy, a prominent advocate of harm-reduction programmes, has won election to represent San Francisco’s District 8 on its Board of Supervisors. His victory is likely to renew debate over how the city should respond to its fentanyl crisis, visible drug use and homelessness.

McCoy received 11,281 first-choice votes, or 49.94 per cent of the early count, ahead of Darshini Patel and Michael Nguyen, and went on to win under the city’s ranked-choice system. He has backed needle exchanges, Narcan distribution, safe consumption services and the Tenderloin Linkage Center; supporters say these measures save lives and connect people with care, while critics argue they can worsen disorder in struggling neighbourhoods.