Stephen Jaffe for Congress

The San Francisco Berniecrats are very proud to announce our early endorsement for Stephen Jaffe for Congressional District 12 in San Francisco!

Stephen Jaffe was a legal volunteer for the Bernie Sanders campaign in Nevada during the Democratic primaries, and has proven his progressive credentials through action. As president of the South Beach D6 Democratic Club, he fought against dark money in San Francisco by introducing changes to the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) bylaws, requiring Democratic Clubs to disclose their funding sources to the DCCC. This came on the heels of an intense election in which the SF ‘RFK Democratic Club’ laundered close to $1 million from Ron Conway, Airbnb and other investors to fund PACs for corporate Democrats in San Francisco. Stephen Jaffe is also an attorney who has fought for the disenfranchised. An example is that he represented six African American police officers against the City of Richmond for race-based discrimination.

Stephen is a staunch supporter of single payer healthcare for all (which Nancy Pelosi is against), getting the U.S. out of unnecessary wars, holding police accountable for their killings of unarmed people of color, ending the school to prison pipeline, fighting for affordable housing and against gentrification, defending women’s rights, and fighting against climate change with clean energy. We look forward to supporting Stephen’s campaign and finally giving speaker Pelosi “a run for her money”!

July 2, 2017February 24, 2019

Gayle McLaughlin for Lt Governor

SF Berniecrats proudly endorse Gayle McLaughlin for Lieutenant Governor!

Gayle McLaughlin is the co-founder of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), and served as the Mayor of Richmond 2006-2014, and its city council in 2004 and 2014. Gayle is a movement builder. She has led the fight against Chevron and it’s corporate money, and has fought for rent control in Richmond. Through the RPA, a coalition of progressive across party lines – progressive Dems, Greens and independents that vow to not take any corporate money – Gayle has helped get many other progressives get elected into office. She was endorsed by Bernie Sanders himself back in 2014 for her city council race.

Gayle McLaughlin for California Lieutenant Governor

May 4, 2017April 24, 2022

Petra DeJesus for Police Commissioner

The SF Berniecrats put a lot of pressure on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors when they were considering replacing Petra DeJesus, a leading progressive voice in our city and an extremely effective reformer on the commission. We successfully managed to prevent them from doing so.

For the past 17 years, as an attorney at Kazan, DeJesus has represented low-income families who have become ill or died from exposure to asbestos. DeJesus furthermore has 12 years of experience serving on the Police Commission under her belt and has made significant contributions to the department during her tenure. Specifically, she has worked with the Department of Justice to reform the S.F.P.D. with regards to Racial Profiling, Bias, and Use of Force. After the tragedies that resulted in the deaths of Mario Woods, Alex Nieto, and Jessica Williams, as well as others, it is clear that we need Commission members with a proven ability to bring reform to the S.F.P.D.

December 8, 2016February 24, 2019

Nov 2016 Endorsements

Endorsements Nov 2016

The SF Berniecrats met twice to vote on all these candidates and measures. To win our endorsement, each candidate had to win at least 60% of the vote.

National Races

President: Jill Stein– CA is going blue anyway. If Jill gets 5%, Green Party gets federal funding

US Senate: No Endorsement – Harris is tied to corrupt Dem establishment, and needs improvement on police reform; Sanchez is a blue dog but voted against the Iraq war

Congress D12: Preston Picus– Picus is a Berniecrat and school teacher; Pelosi is a liar

Congress D14: Jackie Speier

State Races

State Senate D11: Jane Kim– Endorsed by Bernie and hopefully the future of the Dem Party

State Assembly D17: No Endorsement – Neither are progressive enough

State Assembly D19: No Endorsement – Neither are progressive enough

Superior Court: Victor Hwang– Progressive civil rights advocate

San Francisco Races

Board of Education:
Rob Geller
Matt Haney
Jill Wynns

Community College Board:
Tom Temprano
Rafael Mandelman
Shanell Williams
Alex Randolph

BART D7: Lateefah Simon– Progressive advocate for disenfranchised

BART D9: Bevan Dufty

D1: Sandra Lee Fewer– fighter for affordable housing & education
D3: Aaron Peskin– Progressive staple in SF
D5: Dean Preston– One of CA’s greatest tenant’s rights advocate
D7: Norman Yee
D9: Hillary Ronen– Progressive civil rights worker
D11: Kimberly Alvarenga– Housing and workers advocate. Herrera was a close second.

State Ballot Measures

51 – School Bonds for K-12 and Community Colleges: Yes. Will pay for school construction and repair. Not perfect but we’ll take it.
52 – Medi-Cal Hospital Fee Program: No. Fees on hospitals will go to special interests.
53 – Revenue Bonds: No. Republican Trojan Horse to stop progress.
54 – Legislature proceedings: Yes. Public oversight is good.
55 – Tax Extension to Fund Education and Healthcare: Yes!Tax the rich for education.
56 – Cigarette Tax to Fund Healthcare: Yes. Cigarettes will kill you.
57 – Juvenile sentencing: Yes. Help kids get their lives back.
58 – English education: Yes. Overturns English-only education.
59 – Corporate spending in politics: Yes!!!Overturn Citizens United!
60 – Condoms in porn: No. Nobody wants this and it doesn’t help anyone.
61 – CA drug prices: Yes. Keeps drug prices down.
62 – Repeal the death penalty: Yes!Execution IS cruel and inhuman.
63 – Ammo sales: Yes. A weak show-piece for Newsom, but we’ll take what we can get.
64 – Marijuana Legalization: Yes!End prohibition now. The US will follow.
65 – Plastic bag charges: No. Undermines plastic bag ban, takes $ out of CA.
66 – Accelerated death penalty: No!Innocent people will die.
67 – Plastic bag ban: Yes. Keeps the ban alive.

Regional Measures

RR – BART bonds: Yes. Gives BART money they need, keeps us safe.

San Francisco Ballot Measures

A – School bonds (local): Yes. Repair and construct new schools. Seems to benefit construction companies more than improving the quality of education, but it’s better than nothing.
B – City College tax: Yes. $20 parcel tax to help City College.
C – Affordable housing bonds: Yes. Loans for affordable housing.
D – Vacancy appointments: Yes. Requires interim election for vacant seats.
E – Street trees: Yes. Trees are the city’s responsibility.
F – Youth voting: Yes. Lets 16-17 year-olds vote in school board elections.
G – Police oversight: Sure. Rename the Office of Citizen Complaints. Separate budget from SFPD, but doesn’t provide real reforms.
H – Public advocate: Yes. Creates Office of Public Advocate, balancing the power of the Mayor.
I – Senior funding: Yes. Funding for senior citizens and the disabled.
J – Homeless and transport funding: No. Good ideas, dangerous implementation. Initiated by Ed Lee and Weiner.
K – Sales tax: No. Money won’t be used properly. Linked to measure J.
L – MTA oversight: Yes!Gives progressive Board of Supervisors leverage for SFMTA.
M – Housing Commission: Yes. Takes oversight for housing from Mayor to Housing and Development Commission.
N: Non-Citizen parents can take part in School Board votes: Yes!We fought a war over taxation without representation. Already pay taxes, so deserve to be involved.
O – Increase in commercial space in Hunters Point and Candlestick: No. We’ld prefer this land be used for residential or mixed use.
P – Competitive bidding: No!Will make affordable housing worse.
Q – Prohibits tent on sidewalks: No. Doesn’t work when we have a shortage of housing and criminalizes homelessness.
R – Neighborhood Crime Unit: No. Creates Scott Weiner Gestapo.
S – Allocates Hotel Tax for Arts, and Moscone Center: Yes.
T – Restrict campaign contributions: Yes!
U – Affordable Housing Requirements: No!Makes it harder for middle and low income people to get affordable housing.
V – Tax sugar sweetened beverages: Yes. Regressive tax, but sodas cause health problems.
W – Tax on Properties Over $5 Million: Yes!
X – Preserves space for Arts, small businesses, and community services: Yes. Helps SOMA and Mission.