2 Congressional seats, 2 State Assembly seats, 1 Board of Equalization race, 1 Mayor race, 1 Supervisor race, 8 Superior Court candidates, and 10 local ballot measures - welcome to the June ballot!
US CONGRESS, DISTRICT 12
The 12th California Congressional District (CD12) covers most of San Francisco. Due to the City’s large Democratic donor base, the person representing San Francisco in Congress has traditionally held significant influence on the national level.
Nancy Pelosi has held this seat since 1987, and she’s running for re-election again this year. While in office, she’s steadily moved up the ranks among House Democrats, serving as House Minority Whip in 2002, and becoming the first female Speaker of the House in 2007. Since 2011, she’s continued to lead the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives as Minority Leader, fending off multiple challengers and critics.
She’s facing 6 challengers in June, including Barry Hermanson, a Green Party candidate who has run against Pelosi three previous times. But considering Pelosi’s name recognition, incumbency, and strong base in San Francisco, it’s unlikely that any of them will defeat her in 2018.
US CONGRESS, DISTRICT 14
The 14th California Congressional District (CD14) covers the southwestern corner of San Francisco and most of San Mateo County. While being more moderate than San Francisco, it is still a Democratic stronghold, with a Cook Political score of 27 points towards Democrats.
Jackie Speier has represented the district since 2008. She has a long political history in the Bay Area and her congressional seat. In 1978, Speier was an aide for Congressman Leo Ryan, and went with the Congressman on a fact-finding mission to investigate the cult leader Jim Jones and his followers. The congressional group was ambushed as their plane landed, and Congressman Ryan was shot dead. Speier was shot five times and waited 22 hours before help arrived. She now holds the same Congressional seat as Leo Ryan did when he died.
Speier faces a challenger for her re-election: Cristina Osmena, a Republican.
STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION, DISTRICT 2
The Board of Equalization (BOE) oversees the administration of various taxes in California. Formerly a powerful body that annually collected over $60 billion in taxes, the BOE was recently stripped of most its powers after an audit revealed missing funds and signs of nepotism, particularly by its Chairman, Jerome Horton. The BOE now only has jurisdiction over property taxes, insurer taxes, alcohol excise taxes, and pipeline taxes.
BOE District 2 stretches across the Northern and Central Coast of California, from Oregon to Santa Barbara. Despite this large territory, the last three politicians to hold this seat have all been from the Bay Area.
With the current incumbent (Fiona Ma) running for State Treasurer, BOE District 2 is now an open seat. Challengers include San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen and State Senator Cathleen Galgiani.
Supervisor Cohen is currently the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee in San Francisco. She’s best known for her public health work, pushing forward SF’s soda tax and ban on flavored tobacco.
State Senator Cathleen Galgiani currently represents San Joaquin County, and parts of Sacramento and Stanislaus County. She’s the eighth openly LGBT member of the California Legislature, and currently serves as the Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Interestingly, her current Senate District does not reside within BOE District 2.
There are two other lesser-known challengers for this seat: Barry Chang, a Democratic City Councilmember in Cupertino, and Mark Burns, a Republican real estate agent from Silicon Valley.
STATE ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 17
State Assembly District 17 encompasses the eastern half of San Francisco.
Assemblymember David Chiu is running for re-election in the district, and has served in the seat since 2014. He’s currently the chair of the Assembly Housing Committee - a powerful policy position, considering California’s housing crisis. He’s pushed forward bills around housing development and tenant’s rights - most notably co-authoring a bill last year that would repeal the Costa Hawkins Act and dramatically expand rent control. Considering his incumbency and name recognition, it’s unlikely that he would lose his seat in 2018.
Chiu has one challenger, Alejandro Fernandez, who is a student and small business entrepreneur.
STATE ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 19
State Assembly District 19 encompasses the western half of San Francisco, plus the northern tip of San Mateo County.
Assemblymember Phil Ting is running for re-election in the district, and has served in the seat since 2012. He’s the chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, an influential position in Sacramento politics. Ting was also one of the first state legislators who was elected after term limits reform, allowing him to serve a full 12 years in the State Legislature. He was an early proponent of Prop 13 and split-roll reform. Like Chiu, Ting holds significant incumbency and name recognition advantages in his race, making it extremely unlikely that he would lose his seat in 2018.
Ting faces two challengers, David Ernst and Keith Bogdon.
MAYOR
There has already been a lot written about the Mayoral candidates, including by the Bay City Beacon. There’s a lot that we could reiterate here, but you could also find similar analysis in the SF Chronicle, SF Examiner, and Mission Local. And with over 1.6 million dollars already spent in the election, you’ve likely heard from the candidates themselves.
Three candidates have raised enough money to receive public matching funds for their campaigns, making them the most viable contenders: State Senator Mark Leno, Board President London Breed, and Supervisor Jane Kim. Former Supervisor Angela Alioto was also considered a top contender, but has recently missed the deadline for public matching funds.
There are also four other candidates in the race, some of which have still made a significant impact on the election. Amy Farah Weiss, homeless advocate and the only candidate running as a Democratic Socialist, has made a big splash at many Mayoral debates. Ellen Lee Zhou is the only Chinese American in the race and running on an aggressive anti-cannabis platform. Richie Greenberg is the only Republican candidate in the race.
DISTRICT 8 SUPERVISOR
Almost as much ink has been spilled over the District 8 race as the Mayor’s race.
The race boils down to two candidates: Jeff Sheehy, the incumbent who was appointed by the late Mayor Ed Lee, and Rafael Mandelman, a City College Trustee with a long history in San Francisco politics.
Jeff Sheehy has become described as a political nomad after delivering the crucial swing vote to appoint then-Supervisor Mark Farrell as Interim Mayor. He has a long history as a HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ advocate, and started his campaign with a strong focus on public safety and housing.
Rafael Mandelman ran for the seat once before in 2010, losing against Scott Wiener. He’s remained extremely active in San Francisco politics since then, winning seats on the SF Democratic County Central Committee and the San Francisco City College Board of Trustees.
SUPERIOR COURT JUDGES
Ranking high on the “Obscure Seats Up for Election” list are the four Superior Court Judge seats on the June election. The Bay City Beacon has done a deep dive into this race, examining the complex generational, legal, and political dynamics.
Superior Court judges are elected every 6 years by popular, non-partisan vote. Running for judge can be a difficult process based mostly on name recognition, as judges are usually prohibited from expressing their political views.
Four Deputy Public Defenders (Phoenix Streets, Maria Evangelista, Kwixuan Maloof, and Niki Solis) are running against four incumbent judges (Andrew Cheng, Cynthia Lee, Curtis Karnow, Jeffrey Ross).
PROPOSITION A
Public Utilities Revenue Bonds
This ballot measure would allow the Public Utilities Commission to issue revenue bonds for clean power facilities when approved by a super-majority vote (eight votes) at the Board of Supervisors. The Public Utilities Commission would no longer need to go the voters for approval of the revenue bonds. The Public Utilities Commission currently has this authority for water facilities.
The SF Bay Guardian has argued that this could be a big step towards building a public power grid in San Francisco.
PROPOSITION B
Prohibiting Appointed Commissioners from Running for Office
This ballot measure would require City Commissioners to resign from office before running for elected office. It has been an unspoken understanding for most Commissioners that they should resign before running (and most do), but it has never been formally written into law. This would make it mandatory for Commissioners to resign, and thus prevent them from using their Commission office as a campaign platform.
PROPOSITION C
Additional Tax on Commercial Rents Mostly to Fund Child Care and Education
This ballot measure would increase the tax on most businesses who collect commercial rents in San Francisco, and use most of the revenue on early childhood education programs. The City’s current commercial rent tax is 0.285% - 0.325%. Prop C would increase those taxes to 1% for all warehouse space and 3.5% on all other commercial spaces.
There are some exemptions from the tax, including businesses with $1M or less in gross receipts and some non-profits, banks, and insurance companies. Non-formula retail stores would also be exempt.
The City Controller estimates the tax would collect $146 million. 85% of the tax would go to fund early childhood education programs subsidized by the city for low-to-middle income families. The other 15% would go to the General Fund, where it could be spent for any government purpose.
PROPOSITION D
Additional Tax on Commercial Rents Mostly to Fund Housing and Homelessness Services
This ballot measure would increase the tax on most businesses who collect commercial rents in San Francisco by 1.7%, and use most of the revenue on low-to-middle income housing and homeless services. The City’s current commercial rent tax is 0.285% - 0.325%.
Prop D has similar exemptions as Proposition C, except that it exempt all retail uses from the increased tax.
The City Controller estimates that tax would collect $70 million. Most of the that money would be used on low-to-middle income housing and homeless services, while $3 million would go to the General Fund, where it could be spent for any government purpose.
PROPOSITION E
Prohibiting Tobacco Retailers from Selling Flavored Tobacco Products
This ballot measure will prohibit the sales of any flavored tobacco products in San Francisco. This includes menthol cigarettes or vaping oils used in e-cigarettes.
PROPOSITION F
City-Funded Legal Representation for Residential Tenants in Eviction Lawsuits
This ballot measure would mandate local government to provide and fund full legal representation for any tenant facing eviction in San Francisco. Although the City currently funds some tenant legal services, such as tenants’ rights education and tenant counseling, Proposition F would significantly expand the scope of the City’s work. The City Controller estimates that the City currently spends $6.4M on tenant legal protection, and that this ballot measure would mandate another $4.2M - $5.6M to be spent on tenant legal protection.
A similar ordinance is moving through the legislative process via the Board of Supervisors.
PROPOSITION G
Parcel Tax for San Francisco Unified School District
This ballot measure would create an additional $298 annual parcel tax for each property in San Francisco, to be spent on increasing the salaries of SFUSD teachers and employees, and increased staffing in high-need schools. The City Controller estimates that the Prop G will raise $50M annually.
PROPOSITION H
Policy for the Use of Tasers by San Francisco Police Officers
This ballot measure would give the SF Police Department the ability to use Tasers, or non-lethal electric devices. SFPD officers would undergo training before carrying Tasers. The SF Police Commission has already passed a similar, albeit more restrictive policy allowing police officers to use Tasers.
PROPOSITION I
Relocation of Professional Sports Teams
This is a non-binding policy statement that would prohibit the City from inviting or encouraging the relocation of any professional sports team that has established itself in another city. The policy statement is meant to block the Golden State Warriors from moving to San Francisco.
REGIONAL MEASURE 3
Bay Area Traffic Relief Plan
This nine-county measure would increase bridge tolls by $3, spread across the next 6 years. RM3 is projected to raise $4.5 billion in revenue, which would fund 35 different projects designed to reduce auto traffic, public transit congestion, improve public transit service, and enhance bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
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