<p>San Francisco -- Fuming over the ouster of the city's African American elections chief, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown blamed the firing yesterday on racial politics and all but invited a federal investigation.</p>
<p>"If they had done something like this in the South, the Justice Department would have stepped in," Brown said, one day after the city Elections Commission fired Tammy Haygood. "Maybe some of (Haygood's supporters) should ask the Justice Department to step in."</p>