Today’s the day we’ve all been losing sleep over and stress-eating about and doom-refreshing election models and polling figures for — it’s Election Day, y’all.
November 5th, 2024, will go down as one of the best days of our lives … or one of the worst days of our lives. There’s no gray area. We’ll either finally put an end to fascism and the idea of power-over as a democratic means of leadership, or we’ll bend the knee to its omnipresent, overpowering pressure on society. We’ll either see our country’s first-ever women President-Elect or we will shutter and shiver at the reality of another Trump administration running amock.
But what can you do to help safeguard our country’s democracy? Vote, knucklehead! What can you do to ensure California remains the country’s progressive bellwether? Vote, silly goose! What can you do to shore up our City’s budgets and make sure your values are represented by officials in local government? Vote, baby gworl!
And if you’re anything like us, perhaps you’ve waited for Election Day, itself, to cast your ballot, be it in person or through any one of the city’s polling stations and ballot drop-off boxes. Here’s a glimpse into what our ballot box ticking will look like, and the reasons as to why we’ve voted “yes” or “no” on certain measures, as well as why we chose to side with one candidate over the others in any particular race.
Carry on and practice your civic duty, darling humans! Take a deep breath today — and may we all move on-a-la.
*Note: Any race not explicitly fleshed out and stated should be read as a “no endorsement”
Endorsement and recommendation for the 2024 Presidental Race for 47th President of the United: Kamala Harris
Explanation: In a sane world, the race shouldn’t be nearly this close, y’all. And, of course, Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter.
Endorsements and Recommendations for Local Offices:
SFUSD Board of Education: Jaime Huling, Matt Alexander, Virginia Cheung
Read: Combined, they have decades of experience in both public and private education and believe in the idea that access to entry to a sound education should be as easy and effortless as feasible.
BART Board Director, District 7: Victor Flores
Reason: Flores understands that public transit networks, like BART, are intrinsically connected to economic mobility, the climate crisis, public health, and mental health — his promises to improve BART across the board would better those aforementioned topics of care
BART Board Director, District 9: Edward Wright
Reason: Wright is the only candidate with tangible experience in public transit policy and budgeting running for the position in his district.
San Francisco Mayor: Aaron Peskin
Reason: Aaron Peskin has exemplified what it means to lead with integrity and vulnerability in his time as both District 3 Supervisor and President of the Board of Supervisors. Some of Peskin’s housing policies do exist outside our realms of support, but as an overall candidate, he’s our city’s best mayoral pic, bar none.
Supervisor, District 1: Jen Nossokoff
Reason: Nossokoff is the only candidate running in the District 1 Supervisor race who supports the idea of not only keeping the Great Highway free of vehicles year-round but also transforming it into a world-class public park.
Supervisor, District 3: Sharon Lai
Reason: Lai remains a strong advocate for housing rights and rent-control policies — she’s one of only two candidates running in the District 3 Supervisor race who supports Prop 33 — and understands that street sweeps, when performed out of aesthetic and not for humanity, only place more of a burden on other City resources, nearby emergency rooms, etc..
Supervisor, District 5: Dean Preston
Reason: While the candidates for District 5 Supervisor have left much to be desired for this election cycle — i.e. Scotty Jacobs, whose campaigning evolved into one skewed and supported by right-leaning moderates and was endorsed by contentious PACs, like GrowSF and TogetherSF; Jacobs also called the San Francisco Chronicle a “progressive-leaning newspaper,” highlighting his more conservative bends (that included reporting illegal immigrants who were found selling any amount of illicit drugs to ICE) as of late — Preston is the only viable choice, and he remains the only card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America currently on the board.
Supervisor, District 7: Myrna Melgar
Reason: Melgar has done quite a bit in her district to build and support more affordable housing units and has a track record for protecting tenant and renters’ rights.
Supervisor, District 9: Jackie Fielder
Reason: Fielder is a fantastic representation of the District she vyes to represent on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors — a queer Latina in the Mission District, who rents her domicile and rides transit most days of the week.
Supervisor, District 11: Ernest “EJ” Jones
Reason: Jones is the lone candidate in the race with City Hall experience, and his action items are laid out with feasible, tangible pathways to see them into existence.
State Propositions on the Ballot and Voting Recommendations:
- Prop 2: $10 billion Education Facilities Bond: Yep, yep, yep.
- Prop 3: Marriage Equality: Yes (except for the chronic circuit gays and “modern” republican gays… we kid [kind of].)
- Prop 4: $10 billion Water Infrastructure and Parks Bond: Yes
- Prop 5: Lower Voting Threshold to 55% for Housing and Infrastructure Bonds: Yes
- Prop 6: Amend the California Constitution to remove existing provision that allows jails and prisons to impose involuntary servitude to punish crime: Get it outta here!
- Prop 32: Raise the Minimum Wage: Of course!
- Prop 33: Allow Local Governments to Expand Rent Control: Fuck yea! Anyone who opposes any rent-control or tenant-protection policies should immediately be disqualified from your vote; access to affordable housing needs to become a human right, and Prop 33 helps us get ever closer to that goal.
- Prop 34: Ballot measure against AIDS Healthcare Foundation: Nope.
- Prop 35: Extend Funding for Medi-Cal: Yes, healthcare should be as accessible as possible.
- Prop 36: Treat Misdemeanors as Felonies: In this economy? Never.
City Propositions on the Ballot and Voting Recommendations:
- Prop A: $790 million School Infrastructure Bond: Yes on all accounts.
- Prop B: $390 million Community Health Infrastructure and Parks Bond: Yes, if only for more funding to support our public greenspaces.
- Prop C: Debut an Inspector General to Combat Political Corruption: Yes, we need additional oversight.
- Prop D: Mayoral power play to control City oversight commissions: Nope.
- Prop E: Democratically simplify City oversight commissions: Well, yes.
- Prop F: Allow police officers to collect additional pay before retirement: Nope.
- Prop G: Fund affordable housing for seniors and low-income families: Yes.
- Prop H: Allow the City to pay firefighters additional retirement funds and access pensions and healthcare benefits earlier: Yes, firefighters are far more at risk of developing certain cancers than the general public.
- Prop I: Retirement buy-in for nurses and 911 operators: Sure.
- Prop J: Protect SFUSD funding: Yes.
- Prop K: Parkway at Upper Great Highway: YES LFG.
- Prop L: Rideshare tax to help fund public transit: Fuck yes.
- Prop M: Local business tax reform and restructuring: A light lean toward “yes,” if for no other reason than Prop M would lower certain taxes for local small businesses and alleviate some financial burdens and anxieties around operational costs.
- Prop N: A reimbursement fund for first responders … organized around how to take out student loans: No.
- Prop O: Guarantee Reproductive Freedom in SF: Yes.
