A Victory for People Power … and the Democratic Party Slate CardPaul Hogarthbyline‚ Nov. 05‚ 2008San Francisco’s a progressive town. It’s election nights like these that remind us that no matter how much money the Realtors throw in attack ads, and no matter how much we fear the City’s changes spell disaster for lefties, the voters always seem to pull in for us. David Chiu easily won the District 3 Supervisor’s race despite having the most expensive opposition—and while races in Districts 1 and 11 will be finalized via Ranked Choice Voting, Eric Mar and John Avalos both look good. Progressives kept a majority on the School Board with Sandra Fewer and Bobbi Lopez, and Chris Jackson knocked long-time incumbent Rodel Rodis off the College Board. But the local proposition results were the most encouraging, demonstrating the power of the SF Democratic Party slate card—and its progressive take-over this year. Mayor Gavin Newsom had some unpleasant surprises on the local initiative front; and while progressives did lose some major propositions, the power of the slate card minimized most of these losses. |