More than 100 people gathered at El Rio for an election-night party supporting progressive measures, including Proposition B, which would create a public bank; Proposition I, which would set aside transfer taxes to create a new type of affordable housing; and candidate slates. Cheers echoed through the Mission District bar as state results appeared on its lone television.
But the city’s third results report of the night showed both local measures trailing, while mayor-backed Proposition D, which would raise the bar for putting future measures on the local ballot, held a substantial lead.
Brian Kragh, president of the Richmond District Democratic Club, partly blamed the measures’ early deficits on campaigning by GrowSF, a moderate-camp political group funded largely by ultra-wealthy individuals. He described B and I as grassroots efforts.
He said GrowSF pretends to be for working-class families. “But in reality, what they’ve done is they’ve really created this narrative that really benefits the tech executive CEO and have used working-class language,” Kragh said.
Kragh said GrowSF had effectively reached a city electorate changed by the pandemic. Grassroots outreach, he said, struggled to compete with well-funded advertising and mail campaigns. He said progressive Democrats must “create a more coherent strategy,” to gain the political upper hand.
Meanwhile, District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder sounded upbeat after the second results report, tempered by concerns about campaign spending.
“I’m optimistic about Proposition B, which has gained some percentage points since the first drop,” Fielder said. “Glad to see transit is going to be protected with Prop H and RTM. As far as the other measures, there’s a lot of money in these races and ballot measures. I’m just wary about the influence of money in politics.”
