Despite a promising campaign, Angela Alioto failed to garner enough votes to make it into the December runoff.

After being introduced by her son Joe Alioto, Alioto received a standing ovation and addressed disappointed supporters.

"We ran an incredible campaign," she said.

She went on to tell supporters that after campaigning for the past nine months, she has become acutely aware of all of San Francisco's problems.

"Just because I didn't win this race tonight, doesn't mean that I will stop addressing those problems."

In the weeks leading up to the election, Alioto remained in a close race for the second place spot with supervisors Matt Gonzalez and Tom Ammiano. According to polls commissioned by Cooper and Secrest Associates of Virginia on Oct. 27, Alioto held the second place spot behind Gavin Newsom in the race for mayor.

Despite these results, Gonzalez was never far behind, and ultimately it was he who managed to pull through and win the number two spot in the December runoff.

"We had a situation where Matt Gonzalez had a lot of momentum behind him," Lance Evans, Alioto's press secretary, said after the election. "People wanted change and, unfortunately, they did not see Angela as that change."

Alioto, a civil rights attorney and former SF Board Supervisor, is known for her passion for politics and the city of San Francisco. She felt confident that as mayor she could address the many crises that San Francisco currently faces.

Daughter of the late Mayor Joe Alioto, Alioto has the reputation of being a fighter, someone who has continuously taken on the hard fight and won.

"She is the most experienced and qualified candidate," campaign volunteer Josh Boxer said. "I think she has proven herself in the courtroom and on the Board of Supervisors that she's a fighter and she knows how to get things accomplished."

Alioto, who served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for eight years and was president of the Health Committee, has passed some cutting-edge legislation. She passed the first smoking ban, the first needle exchange legislation, and the first medical marijuana legislation in the nation. Alioto believes that women legislators do a better job than men with legislation regarding health because they are passionate about it.

"She's a person with heart and she's a person with passion," Evans said. "I think you need not only intelligence and personality, you need passion and you need to care about people. And she does."

Alioto has run for the office of mayor two previous times. She lost her first bid for mayor in 1991 and withdrew from the race in 1995 because of financial problems. She was confident that this election would result in a winning bid for herself.

"I've always wanted to be mayor. I'm gonna love being mayor. And I am the next mayor of San Francisco," she said.

Despite Alioto's loss in her third run for mayor, she remains passionate about San Francisco and keeps high hopes for the future. She has four children and two grandchildren, and told supporters that one of them will become the future mayor of San Francisco.

"Don't be sad," Alioto told her supporters as she fought back tears. "Keep up the fight," she urged as she disappeared into the upstairs office of her campaign headquarters.