The Election Debrief
It’s Bye-Bye, Breed, and Hello to a Brand-New City. Statewide, Things Went OK, Too.
You’ve probably heard the old and well-worn adage: “All politics is local.” While the national election results are obviously nothing for labor to celebrate, several political victories did occur in San Francisco and California, and the building trades played a key part in them. So, at the municipal and state levels, we have plenty to cheer about.
Here’s a closer look at these local and statewide victories.
Daniel Lurie greets members of the SF Building Trades Council during a mayoral candidates’ forum at the IBEW Local 6 hall in June. - Photo credit: George Verlaine
The SF Mayoral Race
Yes, it’s true that neither of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council-endorsed mayoral candidates — Ahsha Safaí and Mark Farrell — came out on top. That distinction goes to Daniel Lurie, who earned 55% of the vote in the final round. Nevertheless, the result is still a victory of sorts, even if it is only addition by subtraction.
In other words, London Breed will no longer be mayor. That could open up some positive new avenues for much-needed growth and change in the City, according to council leadership.
“I think the result was a referendum on the Breed administration, and to the extent that we had endorsed other trades-aligned candidates and not her, we chose not to rank her in our endorsement,” said SF Building Trades Council Secretary-Treasurer Rudy Gonzalez.
Mayor-Elect Lurie is a bit of an unknown, having never held political office. He is heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, founder of the SF-based anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community, and a Democrat.
Gonzalez is optimistic about Lurie.
“I’m going to take him at his word that the building trades are going to have a seat at the table,” Gonzalez said. “He didn’t have the closest ties to labor, but he certainly made one of the more conscious efforts to try to meet with as many labor leaders as he could — and certainly, during the several occasions we met, he was inquisitive and interested in what labor’s agenda was.”
IBEW Local 6 Business Manager and SF Building Trades Council Vice-President John Doherty said he’s “pleased to have a change in Room 200” — i.e., the mayor’s office in City Hall.
“I think San Francisco needed to signal to the business community and to the nation that we’re going to work to get ourselves back on the right track,” Doherty said. “If people are staying away because they think the place is a complete mess, let’s clean it up so that they understand we’re open for business and we’re still the place where you want to set up shop.”
Gonzalez characterized the incoming mayoral administration as a fresh start for San Francisco.
“The city is plagued by issues that are not new, but a new administration might bring new ideas and new energy to old problems,” he said. “I don’t think a Lurie administration will be as constrained or as cynical as the past administration when it comes to thinking boldly about some of the challenges we face.”
A + B = Jobs
San Francisco passed a pair of bond measures totaling more than $1 billion, meaning that infrastructure jobs for the trades are on the horizon.
Measure A, the Schools Improvement and Safety Bond, authorizes $790 million to go to SFUSD school sites, with $200 million allocated to design and build a new central kitchen for the district. According to Gonzalez, the trades have a commitment from the school district that the work will be done under a project labor agreement.
Measure B is the $300 million Community Health Bond. Gonzalez described it as a catch-all for hospital modernization, sidewalk improvement, and pedestrian safety.
Gonzalez expects that both measures A and B will continue to provide jobs for trades workers.
Other Local Results
The building trades also saw through the passage of Measure M, a wonky but necessary tax-stabilizing overhaul; Measure H, a change to retirement benefits for firefighters; and the re-election of Supervisor Connie Chan in District 1.
Both Gonzalez and Doherty were enthusiastic about Chan’s victory. As Gonzalez explained, her opponent had the backing of Breed, the Northern California Carpenters, the SF Police Officers Association, the local Democratic Party, and various super-PACs.
On the other hand, Chan had the support of the SF Building Trades Council, the SF Labor Council, and Nancy Pelosi.
“[Chan] has been a strong champion for us on the board,” Doherty said. “When it came time to deal with labor issues, she was a solid yes vote. She always wanted to understand the situation and was willing to help as we move to better the lives of workers.”
Outcomes Across California
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California Political Director Kokayi Kwa Jitahidi said that one must consider the current political environment to truly appreciate the gains made statewide.
“We definitely saw a red wave, where Republican turnout was maximized throughout the state,” he said. “On top of that, you had a dynamic where the issues that voters [kept] top-of-mind tended to favor Republicans,” including inflation, taxation, and crime.
Jitahidi added that the Donald Trump factor affecting turnout created significant headwinds for labor.
“The victories that we did get were really hard-fought,” Jitahidi said. “This was an incredibly challenging environment.”
Despite all that, the building trades saw several candidates and issues gain favor from voters throughout the state. Perhaps most important are the two significant bonds passed statewide: Prop 2, a $10 billion school bond, and Prop 4, a $10 billion climate bond.
“Both of those will create thousands of jobs for our members,” Jitahidi said.
He also celebrated several local bonds that passed — many covered by PLAs — and he brought the impact back nationally.
“In the context of a Trump administration, local policies are going to become even more important,” Jitahidi said. “In these next two years, the local level is going to be even more important for us statewide to be able to help weather the storm of what’s going to happen at the federal level.”
Click here to view a breakdown of election results.