Tomorrow is Election Day, and it’s looking like San Francisco’s election may be decided by just a fraction of its voters: Turnout is very low.
If that’s you and it’s because you’re still figuring out who to vote for, Mission Local’s got you. Check out our election coverage below.
And the polls are open until 8 p.m. on Tuesday — see here for a full map.
Only 19 percent of voters have returned their ballots so far
Out of 534,000 registered voters, only around 102,000 San Franciscans had sent in their ballots as of Monday evening. That means turnout is 19 percent, a very low number for so close to the election.
During the last two statewide primaries, turnout the day before the election was 22 percent (2022) and 25 percent (2018).
Across California, a smaller proportion of Democrats have returned their ballots than Republicans — 15 percent versus 19 percent. Democratic voters are still clinging to their ballots and waiting until the last minute to decide who to pick for governor, given the fractured field.
A bigger-than-usual jump in turnout may occur on Election Day. We’ll let you know tomorrow.
— Io Yeh Gilman
See how the District 4 candidates run
Our Sunset reporter, Junyao Yang, has been following the campaigns of all the candidates for District 4 supervisor this year. Last week, she published a series of articles on most of the candidates, revealing how each one has been trying to connect to voters and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Check them out here:
- ‘Not a NIMBY, not a YIMBY:’ Albert Chow says that’ll drive City Hall crazy
- Mayor Lurie is popular. Can he transfer it to Alan Wong?
- David Lee is the Westside’s forever candidate: Everyone knows his name, but what’s his game?
- Sailor Moon, Pokémon GO, and lots of door-knocking: Natalie Gee on the campaign trail
And if you want to know where those candidates stand on the issues, check out Mission Local’s Meet the Candidates series, where we asked all the candidates the same questions.
— Io Yeh Gilman
Have Israel lobbyists entered the congressional race?
Following the money isn’t so easy when a new PAC “pops-up” days before an election and starts spending hundreds of thousands without disclosing who donated to them.
And yet, here we are. Two new groups — Pro-Choice Majority Action and Rising Tide Collective — have spent $670,000 to boost Supervisor Connie Chan’s campaign in the past two weeks. We don’t know who their donors are yet, because the groups are so new that they haven’t had to release their funding sources yet.
But, Pro-Choice Majority Action does have some ties to pro-Israel PACs, and it spent money on pro-Chan ads.
Chan’s campaign says the notion that Chan is “carrying water for AIPAC is absurd and laughable.”
“This is clearly a desperate attempt from our opponent to undermine our campaign because we have momentum to win on June 2,” spokesperson Julie Edwards said.
To understand how the money is flowing, read “Big backers of Connie Chan for Congress tied to pro-Israel PACs.”
You can also read Mission Local’s coverage to learn more about the candidate’s stances on foreign policy, including Israel, technology regulation, housing, and how they plan to govern.
— Io Yeh Gilman
Voter guides for District 2 Supervisor and the Board of Education
Does District 2 candidate Stephen Sherrill think politicians should oppose housing projects that block people’s views of the Golden Gate Bridge? Does candidate Lori Brooke support increasing taxes to fund Muni operations? See what they answered to these questions and many others here.
We also asked Board of Education candidates Phil Kim, Virginia Cheung, and Brandee Marckmann several questions including, “Do you support the 2022 recalls of former Board of Education members?” “Do you support merging or closing schools in 2030?” and “Should Algebra 1 be offered to all 8th graders?”