Matt HaneyIncumbent
Candidate for Assembly District 17
Matt Haney sits in the California State Assembly, for District 17, in eastern San Francisco. He is the Democratic incumbent there. He was sworn in on May 3, 2022. That was after he won a special election, to follow David Chiu. He was born April 17, 1982. He lives in San Francisco. Haney holds a B.A., from UC Berkeley, earned in 2005. He also holds an LL.M. in Human Rights, from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He earned that as a Mitchell Scholar. He holds two more degrees too, a Master's in Education and a J.D. Both are from Stanford University, earned in 2010. Before the Assembly, Haney worked as an aide, for state Senator Joe Simitian. He served as the head of the UC Student Association. He was National Policy Director, for a group called The Dream Corps. He also helped start a nonprofit, called #cut50, that works to cut mass jailing. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Education and served there until 2019. Then he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, for District 6, from 2019 to 2022. After that, he moved to the state Assembly. In the Assembly, he leads the Housing and Community Development Committee. He also sits on a few more: Budget, Business and Professions, Natural Resources, and Public Safety. He is running now, for a full term, in the November 3, 2026 election. Born April 17, 1982. Home: San Francisco, California. Occupation: he is a member of the California State Assembly, for District 17. He trained as a lawyer. Prior office: he has been the incumbent since May 2022. Before that, he was on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, for District 6, from 2019 to 2022. And before that, he was on the San Francisco Board of Education, from 2013 to 2019.
On the issues
- Economy & Jobs
As a San Francisco Supervisor, Haney opposed Proposition 22, the 2020 state ballot measure that classified gig-economy drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, indicating support for stronger worker/labor classification protections.
Source → - Taxes & Cost of Living
Haney authored San Francisco's Proposition L (2020), the nation's first "Overpaid CEO Tax," a surcharge on businesses whose executives earn more than 100 times the typical local worker's pay, reflecting a stated position favoring taxing large corporations/high executive pay to address inequality.
Source → - Housing & Homelessness
Haney supports increasing housing supply through regulatory streamlining, including legalizing fourplexes, and has been endorsed by the pro-housing-supply group YIMBY Action; he currently chairs the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee.
Source → - Criminal Justice & Courts
Haney co-founded #cut50, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing mass incarceration, and as a San Francisco Supervisor supported opening supervised drug-use ("safe injection") sites in the Tenderloin -- both indicating support for criminal-justice reform and harm-reduction approaches to drug policy.
Source → - Health & Health Care
As an SF Supervisor, Haney championed opening supervised drug-use ("safe injection") sites in the Tenderloin as a harm-reduction approach to the addiction and overdose crisis.
Source →
Profiles are compiled from the candidate’s own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.