San Francisco Chronicle Declares Its City Can ‘No Longer’ Be Called ‘Progressive’ After Voters Reject Agenda

AP Photo/Eric Risberg

The San Francisco Chronicle declared its hometown “can no longer be called a progressive city” after a series of ballot measures passed on Tuesday night unwinding much of the progressive agenda in the city.

The Chronicle made the stark declaration after ballot measures were approved by voters to “loosen restrictions on the police and [to] screen welfare recipients for drugs, while a measure to boost developers was leading and likely to pass.”

Furthermore, the paper noted that voters “backed a slate of moderates to run the local Democratic County Central Committee, whose endorsements could reshape who is elected in San Francisco for years. Four years ago, progressives won all but two seats on the DCCC.”

The Chronicle spoke to a San Francisco moderate leader, Steve Buss, who declared the progressive agenda in the city a failure and said, “They had their turn. They failed. Now it’s time for the city to move on.” The paper also noted:

Marjan Philhour, a moderate candidate for supervisor, said Tuesday’s results show how the progressive-dominated DCCC “has been out of touch with actual everyday Democrats in San Francisco. San Francisco Democrats want representation in their local Democratic Party.”

The Chronicle summed up the progressive platform in the city, writing:

Progressives generally support affordable housing, tenant protections, a proposed public bank, treating the drug crisis like a public health emergency and diverting people accused of low-level offenses into treatment to reduce incarceration. They generally oppose coercing drug users and those with mental illness into treatment and reject a law enforcement-led response to the drug and homelessness crises. But they don’t always have a unified message.

Homelessness and high crime in San Francisco have made national headlines in recent years as many residents left the city during the pandemic and did not return. However, in recent months many businesses and tech leaders are returning to the city as AI has reenergized the economy and is leading to a massive boom. “Founders and investors who moved to Miami and elsewhere are returning to a boom in artificial intelligence and an abundance of tech talent,” reported the Wall Street Journal in February.

The Chronicle also did not sound bullish on progressives regaining influence over city government anytime soon. “Progressives are looking at a thin bench of future leaders and staring down a deep-pocketed tech community that thinks their policies are destroying the city,” added the paper. Moderate Mayor London Breed (D) is up for reelection in November against a progressive challenger, which the paper argued will be a further test of the city’s political realignment.