March is unquestionably the best month of the year.
I’ll admit, I’m biased, but with the NCAA March Madness tournament (go Ducks), my birthday, and the conclusion of the California Primaries, March has some of the things I love the most: college sports, celebrations with loved ones, and the optimism of successful political campaigns.
While most of the HAC team also likes college sports and birthday festivities, I assure you, the election is our top priority. With housing advocacy intimately connected to local and state politics, we know firsthand that elections matter.
In 2016, for example, current California Senator Scott Wiener won election to the State Senate. Since then he has gone on to author a number of pro-housing bills — like Senate Bill 423 — that have transformed the homebuilding process in California for the better. Conversely, in 2000, current Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin was elected to the Supervisor Board. In his 24 years in office, he’s built a notorious track record for making decisions that have unquestionably contributed to San Francisco’s chronic housing shortage and affordability issues.
The ramifications of Senator Wiener and Supervisor Peskin’s elections are clear: when we put the right people in positions of power, we can make progress toward solving our most challenging social, economic, and environmental issues. Elect the wrong people, however, and progress can be stilted by political obstructionism.
With housing as perhaps the most important political issue in the Bay Area and California, we recognize the stakes for the March Primary and the upcoming General Election in November.
While it’s still too early to know how all of HAC’s endorsed candidates and ballot measures did, the results so far are looking positive for the pro-housing community. Here’s the status of some of the major statewide and local races as of March 6, 2024:
Statewide
- Prop 1 in California is holding on to a lead.
- 27 of our 30 endorsed candidates for the state legislature are currently poised to advance to a November General Election. That includes numerous candidates running for open seats such as Jesse Arreguin (SD 7), Sasha Renee Perez (SD 25), Jessica Caloza (AD 52), Patrick Ahrens (AD 26), and Nick Schultz (AD 44).
Local
- Props A and C in SF are holding onto a tight lead.
- The SF Dems for Change DCCC slate are frontrunners.
- Betty Duong (Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors D2), Domingo Candelas (San José City Council D8), Antonio Lopez (San Mateo County Board of Supervisors D4), David Cohen (San José City Council D4) and Otto Lee were among the winners.
- In the East Bay, John Bauters (Alameda County Supervisor D5) looks to be headed to the November General Election.
We believe educating voters on key political housing issues is central to our mission. If we want healthier, more affordable, and more sustainable communities, we need to vote for the political leaders who will make the policy decisions to make our goals a reality.
