Not only did Supervisor Chris Daly defeat Newsom’s candidate, Rob Black, by a healthy margin -- but now the Mayor will have to meet with Daly once a month to answer his questions. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in hit pieces by the Mayor’s allies (BOMA, the Police Officers Association, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, and SFSOS) could not convince District 6 voters to reject Daly, who led his seven opponents with 49.66% of the vote with all precincts reporting. While the City will use ranked choice voting to confirm the winner, it is impossible for Black -- currently in second place at 39% -- to gain enough ground to receive a majority.

Meanwhile, San Francisco voters approved Proposition I by a 57-43 margin, a measure that Daly placed on the ballot requesting the Mayor to attend a monthly Board of Supervisors meeting -- similar to “Question Time” in the British parliament. Newsom was also on the losing end of Proposition H – a measure to increase relocation assistance for evicted tenants, which passed 55-45. Newsom’s Supervisor candidate in District 4, Doug Chan, finished an embarrassing fourth place – as the winner of that race will be decided through IRV between Ron Dudum, Ed Jew and Jaynry Mak.

Without a doubt, Newsom was the biggest loser of last night’s elections – and the progressives on the Board of Supervisors were the big winners. “This election,” said Board President Aaron Peskin, “shows that the people of San Francisco support the Board of Supervisors’ agenda. All this talk about the city’s demographics changing and getting more conservative was overblown. Newsom proved tonight that he has no coat-tails, and that district elections can’t be bought.”

San Francisco also made history by approving Proposition F by a 61-39 margin, the first place in the country to guarantee paid sick leave for workers. Neighborhood activists won with the 59-41 passage of Proposition G, which requires a public hearing before any new chain stores come into the City. Although Proposition E -- the parking tax -- failed after an onslaught of downtown money targeting its defeat, local progressives had a lot to celebrate what was truly a historic night.

And there was no better place to be than Chris Daly’s victory party at the DNA Lounge in South-of-Market. After a grueling campaign where many feared that he could lose, activists came out of the woodwork in the last three weeks to help Daly defeat a well-funded opponent. Daly reminded the crowd that he was first elected in December 2000, when everyday progressives came together to take back the City with district elections. Then Newsom was elected Mayor in 2003, and when he came out in favor of gay marriage, his approval ratings shot into the stratosphere and it became impossible to criticize him on anything else. But last night’s results, said Daly, proved one thing – the Newsom honeymoon is finally over.


Chris Daly at his exuberant Victory Party at the DNA Lounge

Daly has a well-deserved reputation as a passionate advocate who can let his emotions get the better of him. It’s a trait that the downtown crowd had hoped to be his downfall. After six years of being the Chronicle’s favorite whipping boy, business interests waged an unprecedented onslaught in the last few months, calling him a crybaby and a coddler of street people. They funded a candidate to run against him, hoping to capitalize on the Mayor’s popularity, an influx of new condo owners in South Beach, and Daly’s “bad-boy” reputation in the media. But like Chris Dittenhafer in 2000 and Burke Strunsky in 2002, Rob Black proved to be just another footnote in their effort to stop Chris Daly. For a district of low-income tenants whose lives are a constant struggle on the brink of homelessness, Daly may be a fighter – but they decided that he fights for poor people.

Granted, last night was not a complete defeat for the Mayor. In District 8, Supervisor Bevan Dufty (who had Newsom’s support) easily won re-election – but many progressives never rallied around his challenger, Alix Rosenthal. And in the School Board race, Newsom aide Hydra Mendoza came in a strong second – but the Mayor’s other choices were not so lucky. Bob Twomey has probably lost by less than 2,000 votes, and Dan Kelly, a 16-year incumbent, came in a disappointing fifth place. Newsom’s other candidate, Omar Khalif, finished in eleventh place.

San Francisco progressives had much to celebrate in education politics. Jane Kim, a 29-year-old youth program coordinator, shocked the City with a strong first-place finish in the School Board race after running a grass-roots campaign. And Kim-Shree Maufas, an African-American parent, came in third and has probably edged out Twomey to also gain a seat on the Board. “This is historic,” exclaimed Maufas. “Three women of color elected to the School Board.” For the Community College Board, Sierra Club activist John Rizzo defeated incumbent Johnnie Carter by over 2,000 votes.

The race for Berkeley City Council District 7 is too close to call, as progressive incumbent Kriss Worthington leads George Beier by a razor-thin margin of 140 votes with 100% of precincts reporting. While the outcome may shift with late absentees and provisional ballots, progressives are hopeful that Worthington has withstood the most brutal and expensive campaign in Berkeley history. Beier ran a frighteningly similar campaign to Rob Black -- including hit pieces that attack the incumbent on crime and quality of life issues, and even paying homeless people to campaign for him. Berkeley voters overwhelmingly rejected Measure I, the condo conversion ordinance that would have led to massive evictions by real estate speculators.

In the race for Oakland City Council District 2, progressive challenger Aimee Allison lost to incumbent Pat Kernighan by nine points. “I am proud to have carried the message of hope and change,” said Allison, as her victory would have given Ron Dellums his crucial fifth vote. With escalating housing costs in San Francisco, Oakland has seen an influx of more progressive voters, especially in the Lake Merritt area – which will help elect a candidate like Aimee Allison in the near future.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Prior to joining Beyond Chron, Paul Hogarth endorsed Chris Daly, Alix Rosenthal, Jane Kim, Kim-Shree Maufas and Kriss Worthington in their respective races. He had also contributed $100 to Daly’s campaign, and $200 to Rosenthal’s campaign. Hogarth resigned from Rosenthal’s campaign steering committee in order to work at Beyond Chron. He also volunteered for Daly during the campaign, but on his own time, not during work hours, and not in any advisory capacity. For feedback, contact paul@thclinic.org