At a political rally in San Francisco Saturday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont brought hundreds of people to their feet before the 85-year-old democratic socialist had spoken a word. He was the final speaker of the night at the Curran Theater in support of Proposition 40, the proposed one-time 5 percent tax on California billionaires.
It was clear that Sanders had fans in San Francisco.
Less clear is if Prop. 40 will pass: Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the measure, as does his likely successor Xavier Becerra, alongside Mayor Daniel Lurie, the San Francisco Democratic Party, and a number of other political voices across the state.
“It is not easy taking on some of the wealthiest people in the world. It is not easy taking on the political establishment,” Sanders said, addressing the union workers who brought Prop. 40 to the ballot. Over $80 million has been spent against the measure, more than double the contributions in support. Cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen has put $5 million into opposing the measure.
“It is not easy running a campaign where you’re going to be greatly outspent. But that is what you are doing, and the entire country is proud,” Sanders continued to raucous applause.
Two counter measures, propositions 41 and 42, would nullify Prop. 40, opening performer Mistah F.A.B. reminded the audience. That means a sequence of three votes necessary to enact the measure — Prop. 40 must pass, and Props. 41 and 42 must fail.
Campaign signs put that sequence in writing, and the Oakland rapper later instructed the crowd in verse: “Yes on Prop. 40, no on 41 and 42.”
Still, as Sanders and others before him including Rep. Ro Khanna told the crowd, Prop. 40’s presence alone is itself a matter of historic significance: “It’s the first time in the history of the world that there is a billionaire tax on the ballot,” Khanna said. “The whole world, the whole nation is watching.”
Sanders called Prop. 40 “the most important ballot initiative in the country, because it deals with the most important issue facing this country.”
“Can the American people sustain democracy, take on the greed and power of the billionaire class and create an economy and government that works for all?” he said. “Or are we destined to live in an oligarchic society where our economic and political lives are controlled by a handful of the wealthiest people in the world?”
On the subject of Democratic Party leadership’s opposition to the measure, “I’m just gonna speak bluntly,” Khanna said. The union workers with United Healthcare West, which is leading the initiative, “are tired of Democratic politicians like Gavin Newsom,” he went on, but his voice was drowned out by shouts, whistles and applause.
When the fanfare quieted, he added that workers said they feel they’ve been defied by party leadership.
Longtime San Francisco politician and former supervisor Jane Kim, who is running for California insurance commissioner, also spoke at Saturday’s rally. Kim worked on Sanders’ campaign in 2020 and has received his endorsement in the race for insurance commissioner.
Kim’s words Saturday rang more as a campaign speech, but her campaign is closely aligned with the campaign to pass Prop. 40. Many in the crowd wore red shirts and waved red campaign signs emblazoned with Kim’s name. Her platform, too, shares concerns with those of Prop. 40’s backers: if passed, many of the funds obtained by the measure would go toward health care.
At Kim’s description of healthcare providers “denying, delaying and underpaying our valid claims,” one person in the crowd called out: “Viva Luigi!”
Those in the crowd laughed, hooted and clapped, but Kim gave no reaction. “I am running to fight back,” she continued on in her speech.
Supervisor Connie Chan, who is running for Nancy Pelosi’s seat in Congress, was also seen in attendance, though she did not speak.
Sanders began his remarks with a word of condolences to the victim of Saturday morning’s fatal shooting outside of the Warfield, the event’s previously scheduled venue. In closing, he ended with a familiar refrain: “California, congratulations on what you’re doing, and let’s go forward together.”
