Progressive candidates won high-profile races around the country Tuesday. In San Francisco, the left had a rough night. The San Francisco Standard reported that moderates extended their grip on City Hall, led by Connie Chan's concession to state Sen. Scott Wiener in the race for Nancy Pelosi's seat.
Mayor Daniel Lurie's charter amendments won easily, and his ally Theo Ellington won District 10. Mission Local described progressives as "down in the dumps" by the final count Tuesday night: Prop. I, the social-housing measure, was down by 10 points and the billionaire tax was losing. Lurie called the local results a return to "common sense."
"I hope that this is a wake-up call for us and our movement," AjaiNicole Duncan, co-president of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, told the Standard. "We need to have a come-to-Jesus moment and build the bench." At the DSA party at El Rio, organizer Tuesday Thornton, who said she helped mobilize roughly 500 volunteers for Prop. I, said: "I'm really bummed for us."
Amar Shergill, former chair of the state Democratic Party's Progressive Caucus, blamed the city's changing demographics. The Standard noted that the median household income has nearly doubled in a decade. Steven Bacio of the moderate group GrowSF said progressives are "focused on billionaires and not 'Can Billy read?'"
There were bright spots for the left. Prop. B, the public bank measure, was too close to call, and Gary McCoy won District 8. A McCoy campaign consultant pointed to him as a model of a progressive with a pro-housing, YIMBY platform.
Vote counts cited here are unofficial. Bay Area counties are still processing mail and provisional ballots, and results are not certified until later this month, so margins can change.