Endorsements for State and Local Political Candidates

SF Board of Supervisors:
District 1	Lillian Sing (1st) Jake McGoldrick (2nd)
District 2	Michela Alioto-Pier
District 3	Aaron Peskin
District 5	Bill Barnes (1st) Nick Waugh (2nd) Robert Haaland (3rd)
District 7	Sean Elsberndt
District 9	Tom Ammiano (1st) Miguel Bustos (2nd)
District 11	Gerardo Sandoval
SF Board of Education	Heather Hiles, Mark Sanchez, Jane Kim, David Weiner
SF Community College Board	Natalie Berg, Milton Marks, Rodel Rodis, Julio Ramos

First, let me just say that as a general rule of thumb, for any California State Senate or Assembly race in your area, vote for the Democrat. I don't care who it is - they're guaranteed to be better than the Republican. Guaranteed. I don't say that about Republicans in general, but it's true for the California Legislature.

The Religious Right in California has a choke-hold on the Republican Party here is that frankly killing them. The Republicans are so far out of the mainstream it's unbelievable. This year, not a single Republican legislator voted for any of the gay rights legislation before the Assembly or the Senate. Not one. Not even the extraordinary benign resolution authored by Mark Leno declaring June to be Gay Pride Month. That's absurd. For all of his faults, Governor Schwarzenegger has at least established a modicum of independence by signing all three of the LGBT-related pieces of legislation that reached his desk.

State Senate

Carole Migden is abrasive. She can be ornery, nasty, and downright rude for absolutely no reason at all. She is, in short, a total bitch - but she's our bitch. (She's gonna kill me if she ever reads this.) It's a wonder to me that she gets anyone to work with her, and yet she somehow still has managed to build a track record of being effective. She gets things done, and she's on our side. So for all her faults, we need her in the State Senate.

State Assembly

I have extraordinarily high standards for elected officials. I want them to be smart. I want them to be diligent about their work and do their homework about the legislation before them. I want them to be proactive about seeking solutions for the issues I care about. I want them to be effective at building alliances to advance their - our - legislative agenda. I want them to work tirelessly.

Honestly, I don't think I personally meet the standards I set for my elected officials. But then, most of them fail to reach those standards, too. But Mark Leno does. Mark Leno is the ablest, smartest, most effective politician I know. I'm proud he represents me in Sacramento. And I will say right here and now that as of this writing, at least, I would support him for any office against any other candidate of any party. He deserves our support.

My feelings for Leland Yee are not so strong, but his has stood by us in Sacramento and deserves to be re-elected. We need to maintain a strong Democratic presence in the Legislature, especially when the opposition party is so far outside the mainstream (see my general observations above).

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

District 1

Lillian Sing (1st)
Jake McGoldrick (2nd)

Believe it or not, I have been a supporter of Lillian Sing since the 1980s. (God, that makes me feel old.) I supported her when she first ran to be a judge, and voted for the Harvey Milk Club to endorse her back when I was a member of that club. She has been a strong ally of the LGBT community throughout her entire career, and I wholeheartedly give her my first choice support.

My Realtor friends probably won't be happy to hear that I'd rank Jake McGoldrick second. But given how extreme and downright homophobic the other candidates in the district are, if Sing doesn't win, better McGoldrick than anyone else. Remember that San Francisco now has ranked voting, so if your favorite candidate doesn't make the top two, he or she will drop out and your vote will roll over to your next choice.

District 2

Michela Alioto-Pier

Alioto-Pier was recently appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom to be his own replacement on the Board of Supervisors. She hasn't served long enough to distinguish herself, but surprisingly, there are no other significant candidates in the district to seriously challenge her. In that light, I think she merits a chance to continue to prove herself. That she and I are distant relatives is not a factor here (so distant, in fact, that I'm sure she neither knows nor cares about the relationship, but that's okay).

District 3

Aaron Peskin

I don't have a lot of details to report beyond what the other organizations have already said in endorsing him. Does anyone I know actually live in District 3 anyway?

District 5

Bill Barnes (1st)
Nick Waugh (2nd)
Robert Haaland (3rd)

This is the district where I've done the most research and thinking - in part because it's my own district, and in part because it's the only one where an incumbent isn't running. My opinions on which three candidates to rank on my ballot, and in which order, have changed almost every day. But Bill Barnes is the only person who has been on every single one of my theoretical slates, and that's why I've made him my #1 endorsement. But ironically, I actually voted for Nick Waugh first, for reasons that I will have to explain in more detail in another article that will be devoted specifically to the District 5 race. There's a lot I like about Robert Haaland, but I also have some misgivings. But the main reason I'm making sure he stays on my ballot, albeit in third place, is because the race may come down to a three-way battle between him, Ross Mirkarimi, and Lisa Feldstein, and I really don't like Mirkarimi. (I suppose I could have hedged my bets a little more by dropping Nick Waugh and putting Haaland second and Felstein third...but I didn't.) More about this race soon...

District 7

Sean Elsberndt

Like the District 2 race, this is another one where one of the mayor's recent appointments surprisingly isn't facing any significant challengers. Elsberndt is a bit of a cypher, though I have heard some good things about him. Many of the political clubs chose to make no endorsement in this race; I figure given the lack of opposition, let's give the guy a chance.

District 9

Tom Ammiano (1st)
Miguel Bustos (2nd)

When the progressive radicals are calling Ammiano "conservative," I know they've pushed themselves so far to the left that they're in danger of teetering off a cliff. Tom Ammiano deserves to be re-elected, and his two primary challengers, Miguel Bustos and Renee Saucedo, are really trying to win second place in order to position themselves as Ammiano's heir presumptive. Bustos deserves second place (even though the most extreme progressives call him a "right winger" - but they'd probably call me that, too, especially since I voted no on Prop. F). Unfortunately, there's no way to support his second place effort without putting Ammiano's victory at risk.

District 11

Gerardo Sandoval

I didn't do a lot of research on this one, but I'm going with the incumbent. He's gotten the endorsement of most of the groups I respect anyway.

SF Board of Education

Heather Hiles, Mark Sanchez, Jane Kim, David Weiner

My endorsements for the Board of Education are a bit ecclectic - some incumbents and some challengers; some Democrats and some Greens; some who support the current Superintendent of Education and some who oppose her. I know that could be a recipe for chaos. But what I'm actually hoping for is a board that will work together to find a middle ground on the complex problems facing San Francisco's educational system.

SF Community College Board

Natalie Berg, Milton Marks, Rodel Rodis, Julio Ramos

The Community College Board has generated far less controversy than the Board of Education. The incumbents are getting the job done and merit re-election.

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