As the only GOP presidential candidate without a glitter bombing to his name, Ron Paul probably should have seen the sparkling shower coming by now. As CityPages reports this morning, the Texas Congressman was caught off-guard Monday night when an activist by the name of "Charlie McAwesome" launched a colorful flurry upon the Texas Congressman after a campaign rally in downtown Minneapolis. more ›

In what's proving to be a race to the bottom for the current crop of GOP candidates, Rick Santorum,—whose "Made In America" platform plan would prune corporate income taxes on manufacturing companies in order to keep jobs in the country—loves investing in overseas companies almost as much as he loves America. Much of his money goes to companies that outsource manufacturing work to factories in "China, Thailand, Malaysia and other countries." more ›

Confused GOP candidate Newt Gingrich surprised absolutely no one when he told gay voters to back Obama. According to the Des Moines Register, an Iowa gay asked the former U.S. House Speaker how he would support gay Americans if elected. more ›

Suspicions confirmed: Tuesday's election had terrible voter turnout. How terrible? Including the ballots we're stil waiting to see counted, the total turnout will be around 40% of registered voters. Or: the lowest turnout ever for a contested mayoral race, the Appeal reports. more ›

As with the Mayoral and Sheriff's races, yesterday's contest for the District Attorney's office left a clear frontrunner but not a clear majority. Current interim DA George Gascón leads the contest after the first round with just over 42% of the vote. The closest contenders, UC Berkeley Criminal Justice scholar David Onek and Alameda County prosecutor Sharmin Bock trail behind with 23% and 21% respectively. more ›

In another tense decision, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi currently leads the race for the Sheriff's seat with just a hair over 38% of the votes. As with the the mayor's race, no clear majority here means this decision will go back to the Department of Elections to tally up the second and third-choice votes. more ›

6:26 p.m.: Polls will close at 8 p.m., which is when we'll crown Ed Lee the next mayor of San Francisco we'll find out the results. Until then, your SFist editor will make himself a vat of french onion soup (why not?) and mainline contraband Pseudoephedrine (we're a tad under the weather) before heading out to a couple of election night parties (hint: one will involve a former mayor and MC Hammer). We'll update sporadically throughout the night with the results. more ›

After doing your civic duty and picking your favorite three candidates for mayor you'll probably want to keep an eye on those election results tonight to find out just which one of your hopefuls won the lottery will be taking over in Room 200 next year. Given the time-consuming nature of ranked-choice and the large number of candidates in the race, we don't expect this thing to be resolved too quickly tonight, but that doesn't mean you can't find a friendly place to watch the results come in with other like-minded individuals. Some of these parties even have drinks. more ›

After public outcries from concerned San Franciscans (most of them running for mayor themselves) accused Ed Lee supporters of voter fraud and called for election monitors to keep an eye on tomorrow's proceedings, the California Secretary of State has announced today that they will be granting that request. According to the Weekly, state watchdogs will be on the ground tomorrow observing various precincts and polling places around the city throughout the day. more ›

Over on Foxnews.com, allegations of voter fraud and mishandling of absentee ballots on the part of Ed Lee supporters have put Mayor Lee's face front and center on the conservative news site. At the moment, it's sitting above news of Hermain Cain's latest bizarre campaign ad and a piece about Connecticut democrats attempting to pass a bill that would subsidize diapers for low-income moms. The Fox report doesn't add much to the story, but here's their leading paragraph that just drips with drama: more ›

Here's Ashkon (of the Giants World Series/Don't Stop Believing forced-meme fame) doing MC Hammer's "2 Legit 2 Quit" with Hammer himself, Twitter co-founder/Ed Lee spammer Biz Stone and Giants Closer/Taco Bell spokesman Brian Wilson. All are endorsing controversial mayoral candidate Ed Lee. (SFist, if you recall, was the first to break the news that Wilson was also shilling for Lee.) more ›

Mayor Ed Lee and SF Neighbor Alliance, the bogus grassroots effort that pooped out the cringe-worthy Run, Ed, Run campaign, are under fire this week after witnesses revealed to The Chronicle that they had observed workers at a Chinatown voting station on Friday filling in absentee ballots for voters. The Chronicle reports: more ›

As you know, SFist does not make a business of endorsing candidates in elections. But if we were to, theoretically, want to endorse anyone or want to encourage you, the voters, to waste a valuable spot on your confusing ranked choice voter ballot with a write-in candidate just for shits, we'd most wholly support Mat Honan. Honan has a simple platform based on a few phrases you can click through on his website a website created by Honan supporters. They include "Tax Twitter," "Ban Medjool," "Ban Straight Marriage," "Fuck You, Muni," "Let's all go surfing," and "Outlaw Chicken John." more ›

After Temporary Mayor Ed Lee announced plans today to run for mayor, something he promised both the Board of Supervisors and the public he wouldn't do, his fellow candidates released statements regarding his nascent candidacy. First up, we have City Attorney Dennis Herrera's stinging statement. more ›

This mayoral debate is going to be big, with a 99% chance of people heckling the stage. Why? Because Mayor Ed Lee, who announced today his intentions to run for full term, will appear at his first-ever mayoral forum. Hosted by the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association (DTNA) and the Castro/Eureka Valley Neighborhood Association (EVNA), Lee will appear alongside such competitors as Michela Alioto-Pier, Supervisor John Avalos, Board President David Chiu, Bevan Dufty, Tony Hall, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Joanna Rees, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting and Senator Leland Yee. more ›

During Thursday night's Tonight Show comedian and macadamia nut purveyor, Roseanne Barr announced her bid for U.S. President in the 2012 election. "I decided since you're the one who got Arnold Schwarzenegger elected as governor of California, I wanted to make my announcement here on your show," she told Jay Leno. "My announcement is that I am running for president of the United States." After some chortling from the studio audience, she went on to add, "I'm totally serious." more ›

U.S.-born citizen and President of the United States, Barack Obama, will be in San Francisco on 4/20. If you'd like to see him speak live at his campaign kickoff, and donate to his reelection campaign, you can catch him at the Nob Hill Masonic Center on Wednesday for a scant $25. Hopefully -- get it, hopefully? -- he'll talk about fulfilling some of the promises he flaked on during his first few years in the Oval Office. Expect a speech by a charismatic Obama, tunes by DJ Hope, and a performance by Goapele. More details. Nob Hill Masonic Center, 1111 California (at Taylor) more ›

In an exclusive poll conducted by CBS5 and SurveyUSA (sounds official!), the local news station found that Ed Lee would be moving in to the Mayor's office for a full term if we voted today. Of course, the poll operates under the assumption that he would actually be running, which he's not at the moment, no matter what those folks at the Chamber of Commerce tell you. more ›

Another blow for public education unfurled in the East Bay last night. The Oakland School Board approved 500 layoffs notices for Oakland teachers. Said notices will go to 231 elementary school teachers, 41 English teachers, 45 social science teachers, 28 sixth-grade teachers, 25 P.E. teachers, 13 social workers, and the entire adult education staff. more ›

While we're on the subject of mayorship, District 8 Supervisor Scott Weiner officially endorsed City Attorney Dennis Herrera today. "I’ve seen firsthand that Dennis has the leadership style we need in our next mayor," said Wiener in a written statement. "Dennis shut down the dirty Potrero power plant, instituted gang injunctions to keep our streets safe, and led the legal battle for marriage equality. We need a strong mayor who will work with the Board of Supervisors to get our city working. That’s why I’m proud to support Dennis Herrera for mayor." more ›

Board of Supervisors President and Boston native David Chiu, 40, will toss his hat into mayoral ring today. He plans on making it official at around 11 a.m.-ish. Chiu, if you recall, caused minor waves within elite wonk circles after helping Ed Lee land the interim mayor gig. more ›

Campaign Financing reports for 2011 Mayoral hopefuls started coming in to the city's Ethics Commission yesterday, meaning we get an early look at who has how much money behind their campaign. According to the Examiner, City Attorney Dennis Herrera had nearly $266,000 in the bank by the end of 2010, although he got a head start by kicking off his run way back in August. Senator Leland Yee and Venture Capitalist Joanna Rees are around a hundred grand behind at $170k and $154k respectively. Meanwhile, former District 8 Supervisor and proud father Bevan Dufty is sandbagging a bit with a mere $108,305. more ›

Sacramento Bee and most of the major networks are reporting that the GOP will win the House majority. What's more, they're looking good in the Senate, but the night is still young. Unlike Republicans. Ba-dum-bum. [Sacto Bee] more ›

Where can you party with Jane Kim, Gavin Newsom, Rafael Mandelman, Kamala Harris, or any number of your favorite S.F. candidates tonight? (To answer the first four: Public Works, Tres Agaves, Pilsner Inn, and Delancey Street Foundation, respectively) Check out SF FYI, SF Appeal, BAR, and BeyondChron. If you're not hungover/exhausted from last night's Giants celebration, they have the scoop on election night festivities. more ›

While SFist will bring you election 2010 updates as soon as the numbers start rolling in, you can also keep track online. Behold: California state results page is a good option; here's the link for San Francisco's results. You can also watch live coverage on SFGTV on cable channel 26. more ›

Griffith Rutherford Harsh V, Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's deplorable son, was accused of sexually assaulting a classmate while attending Princeton. Gawker's Maureen O'Connor, who broke the story, has the frightening accusation: more ›

Rees will run as a "progressive independent," whatever that means. Also: "I'm not part of the City Hall crowd," she declares more ›

With fewer than 25% of registered voters turning out for the election, here's how things went down after Tuesday's primary election. more ›

June 8 election results. more ›