Thursday, December 05, 2013

How Many Castro Voters Rejected Sup.'s View on Props B & C?


Let's look at recent election results for the Castro and District 8 and take the pulse of voters. In 2010, when the seat for Supervisor was up for grabs due to Bevan Dufty being termed out, a total of 38,551 votes were cast for a new Supervisor.

The top voter-getter was the ambitious deputy City Attorney whom I will not name. He received 14,797 votes, while Rafael Mandelman's total was 12,414 with Rebecca Prozan's was 5,880 and Bill Hemenger got 1,791 votes, according to Department of Elections records.

Last month, ballot propositions B and C related to opposing development of luxury condos along the waterfront and both were endorsed by Supervisor [Redacted] and the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, with which he is closely aligned and which used his mugshot on their slate card mailing, pictured, to voters urging yes votes on B and C.

These props were seen as a barometer of a larger concern than just waterfront development, and gave a clear indication of how voters feel about the hyper-rapid gentrification and construction of condos for the wealthy, and many progressive leaders and voters correctly stated a no vote for the props was a symbolic vote against the eviction epidemic of renters.

Data from the Department of Elections shows that in District 8 the yes vote total for prop B was 6,202 and 5,794 for prop C.

The no votes for B came to 11,813 and for C the figure was 12,150, a difference of 337 votes. For argument's sake, let say 12,000 District 8 voters rejected both props. That is a robust number in opposition to the Supervisor's position and I believe are a clear indication a whole hell of a lot of Castro area voters are not happy with the Supervisor on development matters.

It's surprising to me that 12,000 voters in District 8 voted no on B and C because it's so close to the 14,797 ballots he garnered in 2010.

What this may mean for the 2014 race for Supervisor of the Castro is anyone's guess.

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