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Handicapping the Key Races
San Francisco in 2026 faces an electoral blizzard. Its first contested congressional race since 1987, two tight June supervisor races on top of the November contests, and at least three high-profile ballot measures. San Franciscans will also be involved in the governor’s race and helping Democrats take back the House and Senate.
For campaign professionals, hardworking volunteers, and political junkies, 2026 should be a great year.
Here’s our early forecast of the key San Francisco races along with the governor’s contest…
Charter Reform
It has yet to be decided what the planned charter reform ballot measure will cover and whether it will be on the June or November ballot (or both). Here’s what I previously wrote about all those claiming that San Francisco’s biggest problem is its charter:
Charter reform will not close open-air drug markets. It will not fill downtown office vacancies. It will not solve MUNI’s financial troubles. It will not lower health care or housing costs. It will not get lenders to make loans to build new housing. It will not boost the international tourism that Donald Trump has deterred. Charter reform will make San Francisco government operate more effectively. But it will not address the top ten problems facing the city.
I hope you will read this entire article. It is somewhat surprising coming from Randy Shaw, but, rather close to what many of us believe may turn the city political arena back into balance. Or closer to balance than it is now. A healthy middle is what the public seems to want but has problems figure out who to trust to get them there.
Randy is correct in pointing out the one of the biggest problems we are current dealing with is government overreach. Both the national and the state administrations have usurped a lot of the power the citizens welded.
How does the public regain its power? Which candidates are most likely to reverse the trend to centralize authority? Who is most likely to find the solutions to San Francisco’s real problems?