Angela Alioto

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Angela Alioto (b. San Francisco, California, October 20, 1949) is an attorney, politician, and a member of the Democratic Party. She is a member of one of the most well-known political families in San Francisco: She was on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 1988 to 1997. Her father was Joseph L. Alioto, the former mayor of San Francisco. Her niece, Michela Alioto-Pier, is currently on the Board of Supervisors.

Alioto received a B.A. degree in English, French literature and Italian Renaissance, in 1971, from Lone Mountain College, and a J.D., from University of San Francisco School of Law in 1983.

Alioto unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of San Francisco three times — in 1991, 1995 and 2003. Since leaving the Board of Supervisors, she has been the main partner of her law office, and has won a number of cases against corporations — including Mary Kay Cosmetics. She also served as Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party.

In the November 2003 mayoral election, Alioto came in third behind candidates Gavin Newsom and Matt Gonzalez. During the run-off election between Newsom and Gonzalez, it was expected that she would endorse Gonzalez — especially because she had been such a vocal critic of Newsom's anti-homeless policies. But she eventually endorsed Newsom, in exchange for appointing her son Joe Veronese to the San Francisco Police Commission, appointing her niece to the Board of Supervisors (the seat then held by Newsom), and putting herself in charge of implementing Newsom's policy on homelessness. Newsom narrowly won the run-off election but Alioto's endorsement angered many progressives.