by Garrett McAuliffe

Mayor Gavin Newson up turns the first dirt at the site of the Transbay Transit Center. He stands among supporters of the project. The Transbay Transit Center will be a new home for 2,600 families, it will serve more than 100,000 transit passengers per day, and will have parks and a retail main street. (Photo by Dania Patricia Maxwell)

Despite his seeming accessibility, strong grassroots support and involvement in a highly visible, competitive election, many residents of the Mission District and Bernal Heights still consider the newly elected member to the Board of Supervisors David Campos, a relatively unknown figure politically.

“Whereas (Eric) Quezada and (Mark) Sánchez had strong ties as community organizers, Campos seems to have come out of nowhere,” said Steven Pazarek, who has lived on the south side of Bernal Heights for the past six years, referring to the other two strong contenders who ran against Campos to fill the supervisor seat for District 9.

­Many in the neighborhood can outline his inspiring biography: After entering the country from Guatemala with his family...