Think Global, Act Local
In all the hubbub about Bush's "mandate," new dark allegations about possible voter fraud in Florida and Ohio, and general wailing about the death of the Democratic party, it's easy to forget the usual state of liberal-on-liberal violence in our very own home town! We've gotta keep an eye on these things -- since the local government's all we've got left now!
So in general, on the supervisor races, it was a good day to either be an incumbent or be the campaign manager for Matty G -- Peskin and Alioto-Pier handily won their races with more than 50%; Ammiano just barely squeaked out of RCV purgatory with 50.3% of his district.
For the other incumbents that were not quite so lucky, let the complicated tallying begin! Lefty Jake McGoldrich is leading over Judge Lillian Sing in the Richmond with 40% of the vote, Elsbernd is at 33%, and Sandoval at 32.7%. And everyone's favorite It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Precinct, District 5? Mirkarimi with 28.6%, Haaland with 14.8%, and Feldstein with 9.2%. RCV totals are being tallied even as we speak, with an announcement of the next round scheduled for 4 p.m (nothing yet, though.)
The other news of note in the supe races? Newsom, lookin' fab above (thanks, Derek!), but not maybe so much with the coattails for his endorsements -- while Alioto-Pier won, Newsom couldn't get Elsbernd solidly in for District 7, Sing came in second, and none of his endorsements got anywhere in District 5 (Sullivan finished fifth; and Waugh, Newsom's number 2 pick, finished fourth). Aw, mayor, don't feel bad -- have a banana.
More bad news for the mayor (and other results) after the jump.
Derek Powazek, photo.
For the fractious school board, Newsom's picks, Heather Hiles and Coach Larry Kane, both lost, coming in, respectively, at 5th and 6th8th, in a best of four competition. The board is now kind of like the Supreme Court for progressives, with three Greens, four moderates, and new guy Norman Yee, who's being looked to as the O'Connor swing vote. Hiles, who you may remember from "calm the f*** down"-gate, however, has not conceded defeat, claiming that she expects to make up the difference between her and 4th placer Eric Mar in the absentees, which are still being counted.
As for the local props -- more pain for Newsom; his last-ditch effort to save the city by raising sales and business taxes failed, meaning now that parks will close, MUNI will cut service, and people will be fired (scroll down). On the bright side, though, sales tax will stay at 8.5%, making it that much easier to calculate your tip.
As for the others, Sean Penn may get killed in Team America, but his do-gooder zeal helped torpedo Proposition L, which lost at roughly the same margin as Alan Keyes to Barack Obama. Non-citizens didn't get the right to vote in school board elections, Candlestick Park stays Candlestick Park (after the Monster Park deal expires), and San Francisco heartily says "no blood for oil," which we're sure the current and future administration will take carefully under consideration in planning their next four years.