It’s been quite a week. We saw a country on the precipice of complete authoritarianism say “no,” just two years after electing fascists to run all branches of government. As the son of a holocaust survivor whose family fled Nazi Germany, I cannot even put words to the relief I felt seeing American voters overwhelmingly reject this racist and sadistic administration.
It’s not just knowing there’s still a limit to what the majority of Americans will tolerate, but seeing an antifascist movement win in this country despite right wing attempts to suppress the vote, punish dissent, and rig the system. Tech billionaires were clobbered around the country, and I took particular pleasure watching Elon Musk lose badly after spending nearly half a billion dollars trying to influence the election. We need to tax billionaires (and trillionaires) out of existence and remove them entirely from the political process.
There must be immediate accountability for the atrocities committed over the last two years. Without that, fascists will continue to feel emboldened and their efforts will intensify. Masked ICE agents, corrupt administrations, and war criminals all need to be held accountable. Officials need to be impeached, shamed, and prosecuted. Now is the time to advance the bold solutions everyday people are demanding: Medicare for all, housing as a human right, AI regulation, no war in Iran, and an end to genocide in Gaza.
As a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), I am incredibly proud to see over 100 democratic socialists win their races. Six DSA members were elected to Congress, including democratic socialist Angela Gonzales-Torres in Los Angeles, where they will join with unapologetically progressive congressmembers in a powerful caucus to enact the mandate for change from voters. Los Angeles followed the lead of New York City, and now the two largest cities in the country will have DSA members for mayor. It’s really incredible to see the growth of our movement over the last decade.
Unfortunately, the progressive wave could not overcome the bulkhead built by conservative tech over the last five years at San Francisco's borders. Californians rejected Prop 40, the one-time billionaire wealth tax, while San Francisco passed measures restricting ballot access for ordinary people and elected corporate-backed candidates to run public schools at a time when school closures are on the table.
While the nation moved left, San Francisco moved right. But in the face of hundreds of millions of dollars being spent to protect the rich and powerful, organizers were able to deliver some important working-class victories through people power.
Voters passed California's Prop. 1, an important affordable housing bond, and San Francisco's Prop. C, delivering incremental but meaningful gains for affordable housing. But without also passing Prop I, San Francisco will lose out on more than $120 million annually that would have been guaranteed for affordable housing and rent relief -- money that is desperately needed, especially as evictions surge. While 48% of San Francisco voters saw through the multi-million dollar misinformation campaign against the measure, it just wasn’t enough to stop City Hall from prioritizing billionaire tax breaks over the housing people need.
Prop. H and the Regional Transit Measure passed, preventing short-term cuts to public transportation. Prop. G was defeated, preserving Sunset Dunes as a park rather than allowing it to be converted back to a highway. Shifting travel from private cars to other modes of transit is an important part of addressing the climate crisis and making our streets safer for everyone.
And the local chapter of DSA scored a major victory with the passage of Prop. B, which puts San Francisco on the path toward becoming the first city in the nation with a public bank. Supervisor Jackie Fielder has advocated for this for nearly a decade, and my office was proud to carry the baton during our time in City Hall. We are grateful to Supervisor Chyanne Chen for introducing the ballot measure, and to DSA San Francisco, the SF Public Bank Coalition, and a world of people who worked tirelessly to make public banking a reality.
The incredible change we saw across the nation is inspiring and shows that people can overcome billionaires and win. The nationwide rebuke of the corporate agenda demonstrates that people are thirsty for something new and better. We have our work cut out for us, especially given the levels of money and disinformation here in the nation’s tech capital, but it can be done. We must bring policies that center working class people home to California and San Francisco. We were reminded this past Election Day that a better world is possible -- let's make it so.