Now that you've found your polling place and a party, registered voter/procrastinator, it's time to familiarize yourself with all those candidate names and local ballot measures. Here's our brief, if somewhat arbitrary, guide to voting in tomorrow's election:
District Supervisors: Aside from the races where incumbents are running unopposed, local pundits (e.g., Matier & Ross, mostly) agree that "anything can happen" thanks to the city's ranked-choice voting system. Of course, everyone said that about last year's mayoral election and nothing unexpected happened. So take these individual district analyses with a few licks of salt (and some tequila):
- District One: Out in the Richmond, David Lee is reportedly hanging tough against incumbent Eric Mar. Gavin Newsom's hair has been spotted at Lee rallies — the Lt. Governor's first foray back into local politics — and the race itself has broken records for third party spending. If you live in the Richmond, however, we imagine you formulated your opinions about Eric Mar a long time ago.
- District Three: David Chiu has this one all wrapped up, and with good reason: of the other three candidates, two of them [.pdf link] use @yahoo.com email addresses and the third still checks his hotmail account. That said, bored D3 residents could vote for Wilma Pang anyway, because she is incomprehensible and runs for (and loses) literally every office that she can.
- District Five: D5 residents know by now that their election is a complete shitshow of mud-slinging and poorly handled PR nightmares. Julian Davis showed a lot of promise, but many D5 voters will find it hard to vote for a guy who (allegedly) is kind of a jerk. Christina Olague remains at the top of the heap despite taking heat from anti-domestic violence advocates and billionaires in Pac Heights. London Breed, meanwhile, has sent so many campaign materials to SFist's Western Branch Office on Divisadero that we're considering reporting her to EPA for crimes against forestry. (Though she drops f-bombs sometimes, so that's cool.) City College Trustee John Rizzo also stands an outside shot and seems far more even-keeled, based on the few times we've spoken with him.
- District Seven: Outgoing D7 Supe Sean Elsbernd is throwing his weight behind Mike Garcia, but Matier & Ross say Norman Yee is still in the lead despite this embarrassing photoshop job. Not far behind? F.X. Crowley, who has a lot of support from his days as a union leader (although some women disagree).
- District Nine: Incumbent David Campos has this one locked up, unless one of the Mission's tech nerds figures out how to hack the voting machines in favor of a write-in candidate. Now that he's got a new pied-a-terre, Zuckerberg could probably win in an upset with one Facebook status update.
- District Eleven: Avalos, who suffered a heartbreaking second place loss in the mayoral election last year, is running unopposed. Four. More. Years.
State Provisions: KQED has your back on these with their excellent guide to the state propositions, which cover everything from labeling genetically modified foods (seems like a no-brainer) to a tax increase to fund education and public safety programs.
Local Propositions: There are seven local propositions that cover everything from draining the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, to opposing corporate personhood, to changing the way we tax small businesses, and saving City College.
The President: If you haven't been completely bombarded by the media surrounding the presidential election, we are envious of you and understand if you decide to vote for Peace and Freedom Party candidate Roseanne Barr. (Otherwise, Obama is the way to go if you don't hate gays, women, and the poor.)
Senator, Representative, Assembly Members: Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Mark Leno and Tom Ammiano are all well-loved incumbents. If you don't like them, each has a person running against them who you can vote for. Or, you know, just write in something silly. That's your right as an American.
