Josh Koehn

San Francisco

Senior Political Reporter at The San Francisco Standard

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Articles

Wiener launches 2028 bid for Nancy Pelosi's seat in Congress

16 hours ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

State Sen. Scott Wiener filed paperwork Friday to officially run for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s seat in Congress — the only question is how soon. Filings list Wiener as a candidate in 2028, and he’s repeatedly said that he would never challenge the two-time former House speaker from San Francisco since launching an exploratory committee in 2023.
New York mayor’s race sparks progressive PTSD in San Francisco

2 days ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory Tuesday in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City has left political pundits and powerbrokers muttering in disbelief. Democratic insiders have spent months advising a shift back to the center following last year’s election collapse, so the rise of a progressive firebrand who wants to tax the rich, freeze rents, launch publicly funded grocery stores, and supplement police with a new community safety department wasn’t on most politicos’ bingo cards.
The Golden Gate Bridge is dangerously woke, CEO warns

4 days ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

The head of the public agency that operates the Golden Gate Bridge wants to rescind policies that discourage racism, sexual harassment, and implicit bias due to fears that the Trump administration will slash federal funding.
The San Francisco lawyer rewriting civil rights in Trump's America

5 days ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

Harmeet Dhillon knows the sting of bigotry. Three days after an assassin’s bullet clipped Donald Trump’s ear at a presidential campaign rally last summer, Dhillon, a conservative lawyer and party leader, appeared onstage at the Republican National Convention, where she recited the Ardās, a Sikh prayer. Many in the crowd clapped, and one woman shouted “We love you, Harmeet!” But her mention of the “one true God” in remarks kicked off an avalanche of online abuse and accusations of blasphemy.
San Francisco could cut immigrant services as ICE arrests surge

2 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez |Josh Koehn

Mayor Daniel Lurie has vowed to keep all San Franciscans safe as federal immigration arrests surge in the city, but his proposed budget puts services for some of the most threatened communities on the chopping block.
ICE raids, soldiers in LA put heat on San Francisco's mayor

2 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

On Sunday, Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles after days of raids and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sparked protests and physical confrontations with federal agents. Escalating tensions over the weekend included rocks being thrown at federal law enforcement vehicles, federal agents deploying flash-bang grenades and tear gas, and protesters setting Waymos on fire as thousands took to the streets.
San Francisco housing permit fraudster referred to prosecutors

3 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

The first time Melissa Nieto laid eyes on Kung Yuen Chiu and his work van outside of her home on Crescent Avenue, she had no inkling of how much trouble he would end up causing her. “He just looked like an older guy with money,” she recalled.
Dark times in Disneyland with California Democrats

3 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

Elected officials, political consultants, junior legislative staffers and union reps all converged on Anaheim this past weekend, fired up for the California Democratic Party convention. Over the course of three days, they drank, they ate, they went to Disneyland, and they promised over and over to fight. Who are they fighting? President Donald Trump and Republicans. Where? Everywhere. How? No one seems to know.
Mayor Daniel Lurie's budget axes 1,000 city jobs, sources say

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn |Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez

For the first time in more than a decade, San Francisco government workers may be laid off to shore up a massive city budget deficit, The Standard has learned. In order to close the $782 million gap, sources told The Standard that Lurie intends to permanently eliminate around 1,000 jobs. Most of those positions are currently vacant or, to a lesser extent, filled by employees currently slated for retirement.
Hayes Street could get an entertainment zone. Are cars included?

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Josh Koehn

Supervisor Bilal Mahmood is pitching a plan to transform a popular block of Hayes Street into a new entertainment zone and “town square” that — hold on to your britches! — could permanently close the stretch of road to cars. Mahmood’s proposal, which he will unveil during Friday’s weekly evening street party on Hayes Street, would formally designate the restaurant-lined 400 block of Hayes Street between Gough and Octavia into an entertainment zone.