San Francisco County · Statewide General Election
San Francisco Assessor-Recorder — San Francisco County
Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.
On the ballot
- Joaquin Torres — Incumbent
This person values taxable property for San Francisco's tax roll and maintains the city's public records, from property deeds to marriage licenses.
Only one candidate qualified for this seat. Incumbent Joaquín Torres was the sole candidate to qualify by the filing deadline and appears unopposed on the November 3 ballot — so this contest is settled and your vote here does not change the outcome. San Francisco elects this office directly in the general election; there was no June primary contest for it.
The Assessor-Recorder values every taxable property in San Francisco and keeps the city's public records, from property deeds to marriage licenses. Property assessment feeds nearly a third of the city's general fund (per the San Francisco Standard), so the office's work sets the base for much of what the city can spend. The seat carries a four-year term.
With no opponent, the useful question is not who to choose but what to expect and what to watch. An unopposed return means accountability for this office over the next four years will come from constituents and the press rather than from the ballot. The record below is what he has done with the seat so far.
Joaquin Torres
The sitting Assessor-Recorder, unopposed for re-election. Appointed to the seat in 2021, he won the February 2022 special election — in which he also ran unopposed — and then a full term. Before this office he directed the city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development from 2018, leading its pandemic-era support for businesses and workers, and served as president of the Housing Authority Commission, where his office credits him with overseeing rehabilitation of more than 3,400 public-housing units backed by $750 million in improvements (per his official city biography).
Strengths
Five years running the office across an appointment, a special election and a full term, with prior citywide-department experience leading Economic and Workforce Development.
Trade-offs
He reached the office by appointment rather than election, and both his first ballot — the February 2022 special — and this November's return drew no challenger.
Keep in mind
State law requires this officeholder to be an appraiser certified by the state Board of Equalization (per the San Francisco Standard); with no opponent, scrutiny of the office between elections falls to that certification regime and the press.
Financial info
- Small donors
Joaquin Torres
$51,200 raised
- Small donors$2,374100%
1Public matching funds are city money earned through small-donor support; totals here combine reported contributions with approved public funds. Figures are each committee's latest FPPC filings as summarized by the SF Ethics Commission's campaign-finance dashboard and the city's public-financing dataset, retrieved 2026-08-21.
Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 4 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.
- sf.gov (opens in a new tab)SF Department of Elections — Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Election
- sf.gov (opens in a new tab)SF.gov — Joaquín Torres, official profile
- sfstandard.com (opens in a new tab)The San Francisco Standard — What does the Assessor-Recorder actually do?
- campaign.sfethics.org (opens in a new tab)SF Ethics Commission — campaign-finance dashboard and public-financing dataset
Last updated August 21, 2026.