San Francisco · California
A historical record of Mark Leno's public service - San Francisco Supervisor, California Assembly Member, and State Senator.
This is an unofficial, independent archive. It is not affiliated with Mark Leno or any campaign, office, or organization. Content is drawn from public sources for historical reference.
Appointed by Mayor Willie Brown in 1998 and elected citywide that fall, then re-elected in 2000. Represented districts including the Castro, Noe Valley, and Glen Park.
Chaired the Appropriations Committee and authored 58 bills signed into law across his first two terms.
The first openly gay man elected to the State Senate. Served until term limits ended his tenure in 2016.
Ran for mayor, narrowly losing to London Breed.
Mark Leno was born September 24, 1951 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the grandson of Russian Jewish immigrants. He attended Nicolet High School and later the University of Colorado at Boulder, and was valedictorian of his graduating class at the American College in Jerusalem, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts. He also spent two years in rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College in New York.
Leno moved to San Francisco at the invitation of his sister, living first in the Tenderloin before settling in the Noe Valley neighborhood. In 1978 he started Budget Signs, a small business he would own and operate for decades, working alongside his life partner Douglas Jackson. Jackson died of complications from AIDS in 1990.
Before seeking office himself, Leno raised funds for AIDS services, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Democratic Party. He was appointed to the Board of Supervisors in 1998 and went on to serve 14 years in the State Legislature, from 2002 through 2016.