from Barak, see barakgila.com for more of my writing
Logistics
- Did you get a ballot?
- Do you know whether you’re a registered Democrat?
- You can check here for SF residents and here for anyone in CA.
- If you’re not sure, now’s a good time to reregister as a Democrat. I don’t care if you support Trump; in San Francisco (and New York, and most cities), you get to vote on more items that matter as a registered Democrat, including the members of the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) that control the local Democratic party platform and endorsements. In San Francisco, pro-growth moderates flipped control of the DCCC in March, from 2/24 to 18/24 members, and have now endorsed solid candidates.
- You’re not sure if it’s “worth it” to vote.
- Sick of gerrymandering and the electoral college? Local and state ballot props are by popular vote and are less partisan: your vote counts!
- Is your rent too high? Control of the Board of Supervisors and the SF Democratic Party and the Mayor’s office is on the ballot. No one else has more impact on your pocketbook, if you pay rent in the Bay Area.
- Ambitious and/or ethical? If you might ever get involved in politics, your voting record (which is public) is super important! Just ask the EA who ran in Oregon. Wouldn’t you rather live in a world in which educated, reasonable people like you voted? By deciding to vote, you’re creating that world.
- Finally, young people and renters vote at a much lower rate older people and homeowners do, so by voting you'll be helping to correct that imbalance and ensure your interests are heard.
Resources
My local media diet: the SF Standard, the SF Chronicle, some local org Slacks, and Twitter.
I consulted these other organizations’ endorsements, which have detailed explanations of them.
- YIMBY Action (sf endorsements; ca (plus 8 other state) endorsements) — the increasingly nationwide nonprofit advocating for building more housing of all types, in all cities
- GrowSF (endorsements) — a centrist, pro-growth group which advocates for more housing, common-sense/pro-policing positions on crime and public safety (they supported recalling Chesa Boudin, the DA, and the school board), and other civic issues.
- TogetherSF (endorsements) — more right-leaning than GrowSF, a public safety-minded group.
- SF Chronicle (endorsements) — the SF legacy newspaper of record. The SF Standard has not issued endorsements this cycle.
- SPUR (endorsements) — an SF urbanist think-tank
- SF Democratic Party (endorsements) — the group is now controlled by growth-oriented moderates, after winning the March elections.
- Jonah Mann helped contribute to my political thinking.
- This endorsement roundup is also convenient: https://sfendorsements.com/
Feel free to comment/ask if one of my endorsements seems misguided.
How I’m Voting
Each race is listed in the order it appears on my ballot. I’ve sometimes listed not just how I’m voting, but reasons in which you might vote differently.
President and Vice President: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
My March 2024 Dean Phillips endorsement looks good in retrospect as a rejection of Biden, although I also recommended Biden replace his unpopular Vice President in a bid to shake up the race…
I know folks who are supporting the Republicans because they’re more deregulatory on issues like crypto, or for lower taxes, but for me Trump’s authoritarian nature, disegard for Democratic norms, and cozying up to autocrats were dealbreakers regardless, even before the January 6 insurrection he encouraged.
It’s nice that Kamala Harris has been a full-throated YIMBY, calling out the housing shortage in her convention speech; I hope that encourages progressives to support more housing more than it encourages Republicans to negatively polarize against it. In general, Harris promises continuity with the Biden administration, which has been mostly competent at managing the economy, propping up Ukraine, and standing up to China.
It’s unfortunate that neither party has much of an interest in addressing the federal debt. Interest on the debt is now almost double what it was during the Obama years, at 2.4%, and with our aging population will be harder to address the longer we wait… it doesn’t make sense to be running huge deficits during boom years, especially since we’re not primarily using them to make long-term investments.
US Senator: Adam B. Schiff
- You get to vote twice because Dianne Feinstein died, so there’s a special election to finish her term and then the normal election for the 6-year term.
Who is Adam Schiff? White Stanford/Harvard Law-educated lawyer. Became a Socal Representative who gained national attention spearheading the Trump impeachment.