The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ election results took the spotlight this week as three got re-elected. Two newcomers also win to hold the positions in the most powerful legislative body in the city.
The three politicians who will keep their seats are Aaron Peskin, Ahsha Safai, and Dean Preston, and will remain for another four years. District Seven’s Myrna Melgar and District One’s Connie Chan will join the Board for the first time.
The electoral results showed that California Mayor London Breed has fewer allies on the Board than she had previously hoped. It also means that the group would remain progressive instead of being liberal.
This year, the coronavirus pandemic has caused a unique situation for campaigning, joining the anxiety that residents felt over the national election. Newcomers found it challenging to compete in the local elections due to requiring more physical involvement to become known, which the health crisis advises against.
Instead, most campaigning events were held online to maintain social distancing and keep citizens safe from being infected with the coronavirus.
Amid the difficulties, many electoral races raised about $500,000 from multiple sources, including landlords and labor groups. The donations were given out in an effort to influence who will be seated on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
San Francisco voters also seem to be leaning towards passing nearly all city ballot measures, including a transfer tax increase that would fund affordable housing and a sales tax increase that would provide Caltrain with a stable funding source.
Proposition 22, the legislation that allows rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft to classify their drivers as independent contractors, passed. Voters are also leaning to pass Proposition 15, which would increase commercial property taxes by a narrow margin and roll back Proposition 13.
The presidential elections, on the other hand, have seen massive support for the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris tandem with 86% percent of voters in the state choosing the Democrat over Trump, the San Francisco Weekly reported.
Last Wednesday, preliminary results showed that most San Francisco voters favored Proposition B. The legislation would result in the creation of a new Department of Sanitation and Streets, which would be separate from the Department of Public Works (DPW).
The latest numbers show that 60% of all voters approved the proposition, which only needed a majority support to pass. The new department would take over some of the duties of the DPW, such as cleaning streets, sidewalks, removing graffiti and illegally discarded items, and several others.
The early results on Wednesday morning shows that Proposition D also looks to be on a straight line to being passed, which would result in the creation of a Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board.
The records show that almost two-thirds of voters supported the proposition, surpassing the required majority to pass. Additionally, the measure would lead to the creation of an Inspector General position to be filled at a later date.
Unofficial results on Tuesday showed that Proposition G is only a few votes shy of being passed. The legislation would lower the voting age to 16 years old for citywide elections in San Francisco, Patch reported.
The electoral results of the Board of Supervisors had Breed anxious about which of her allies could take seats. The previous composition resulted in multiple challenges for her propositions, which were mostly focused on affordable housing.
The supervisors’ election race uses a system called ranked-choice voting, where the first vote of each individual is counted. If one candidate receives a majority vote of first-choices, he would immediately win a seat. If no majority is determined, the candidate in the last place would be eliminated from the elections.
