San Francisco, CA
Column: In San Francisco, a political tremor — the rise of Democratic moderation
SAN FRANCISCO — These are soul-searching days for Democrats, a time of reckoning and self-criticism as they try to comprehend why they lost Congress and the White House and struggle to find their way back from political purgatory.
The examination extends even so far as San Francisco, a place famed for its liberalism and smugness, where the inward-looking reflection began even before Trump’s restoration to the White House.
In 2022, voters cast out three uber-progressive members of the school board, who seemed more intent on symbolic gestures, such as renaming public schools to erase the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Paul Revere, than student achievement. A few months later, the district attorney, Chesa Boudin, was recalled in response to his perceived bleeding-heart approach to public safety.
Continuing apace, voters in November elected a political newcomer and relative moderate, Daniel Lurie, as mayor and punctuated the sentiment by gifting him a more simpatico Board of Supervisors at San Francisco’s baroque City Hall.
In the same vein, the city’s Democratic Party, not exactly a pro-MAGA choir, has moved closer to the middle, electing a leader who sees Trump’s election and improved standing in this blue bastion as one of those moments when red lights flash and sirens are blaring.
“One of the issues with the Democratic Party right now is that so much of party politics, especially at the local level, has been largely performative and not really relevant to the everyday lives of working people,” said the local party chair, Nancy Tung. “And I think we’re seeing the backlash now nationally.”
San Francisco is not about to turn into a hillier version of Kansas, or become Alabama with views of the Pacific. Trump received 6,000 more votes here in November than he did four years ago and boosted his support by 2.5%. Still, he lost to Kamala Harris, the city’s former district attorney, by nearly 65 percentage points.
Tung’s politics should also be put in some perspective. She checks all the Democratic boxes — pro-choice, anti-Trump and on — and laughingly jokes that in many places she’d be called a communist. But Tung is a centrist by San Francisco standards, and the city’s political pendulum, which has long oscillated between left and far left, has clearly swung her direction.
People “can call me whatever they want,” she said over lunch in the city’s Mission District. “I think government should work for people, and at the local level there’s some really basic things that should not be controversial, right? Every community deserves good public schools. They deserve safe streets, clean sidewalks. Government that works, that’s not overly bureaucratic … that’s not putting giant special interests ahead of everyday people.”
Tung, 50, is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. She grew up in Southern California, in Arcadia, before moving to the Bay Area, where she has spent most of her career as a prosecutor. Her work in the San Francisco D.A.’s office focuses on hate crimes.
Tung began her political activism fairly recently, after Trump’s upset victory in 2016. On a trip to Washington, she had planned to celebrate Hillary Clinton’s historic election as America’s first female president. Instead, she had an ugly cry at the National Portrait Gallery, seated before a rendering of women who’ve served on the Supreme Court.
A few weeks later Tung was back in the capital, marching on the eve of Trump’s first inauguration with bullhorn in hand. At home, she redoubled her political engagement by signing up with one of San Francisco’s myriad Democratic clubs. Eventually, though, Tung grew estranged, feeling marginalized not because she was a woman or Asian American but because other Democrats wouldn’t accept her comparative moderation.
In 2019, she ran unsuccessfully for district attorney, losing to Boudin. The next year, the Board of Supervisors scuttled Tung’s nomination to the Police Commission because, in the climate following George Floyd’s murder, she was seen as too pro-police.
Slowly, however, the political winds shifted, as they often do. By 2022, it was the leadership of the San Francisco Democratic Party that seemed out of step. Among other moves, the party opposed the school board recalls, which 70% of voters supported, and the ouster of Boudin, who was handily turned out of office. In 2024, Tung led a centrist slate that took control of the party.
Over lunch at a favorite Indian-Pakistani restaurant, she described her goals between now and the end of her term in April 2028. Tung’s demeanor, as one might expect of a prosecutor, was no-nonsense. Arms crossed. Brow creased.
The most important thing, Tung suggested, was moving away from abstractions and indulgences and addressing issues that touch voters’ daily lives.
Tung cited a resolution the local party passed some years ago opposing the use of child labor in Africa’s chocolate trade. A terrible thing, yes. But why, she wondered, were Democrats in San Francisco devoting time to the matter? “It makes people think you’re out of touch,” Tung said. “Why is there something about child labor in another country and not something about how we’re treating children here?”
That may be reductive, but the point is well taken. If the last election showed anything, it’s that high-minded principles, like standing up for democratic norms, are less important to many voters than, say, the cost of gasoline and groceries.
Democrats, Tung said forking a serving of rice and lentils, need to “actually show people our value, like what we’re doing in the community. … Are you helping feed people? Are you helping clothe people? Are you helping to connect people to services? Are you helping people cut through red tape at City Hall?”
Inevitably, the conversation turned to Trump and fears the country is goose-stepping its way to dictatorship.
Yes, Tung said, party leaders like herself can and should speak out and help channel Democratic outrage. There’s information and resources to share with individuals and groups, such as immigrants, who may be targeted by punitive policies. “Can we provide support to people who are impacted? Yes we can,” Tung said. “Can we provide a forum for people who want to speak out? Yes, you can do that, too.”
But the real resistance, Tung said, will have to come from elected officials, from members of Congress, from attorneys general and others fighting the Trump administration in court.
She didn’t say it, but the reality is if Democrats really hope to stop Trump’s excesses and his bulldozing of federal programs, they’ll have to take back some measure of power in Washington.
And there’s a great deal of work to be done.
Santa Rosa prepares for next big earthquake
The Great 1906 earthquake devastated the Bay Area, destroying much of San Francisco and killing more than 3,000 people. The city marked the quakes 120th anniversary this weekend, but whats not as widely recognized is the damage to surrounding comunities like Santa Rosa.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. – While the Great 1906 Earthquake was a centerpiece of news around the world when its massive damage and fire destroyed much of San Francisco and took 3,000 lives, another far smaller, far less famous town, suffered massive damage almost forgotten by history.
Nearly forgotten
On this day 120 years ago, stunned people were digging for survivors two nights after the quake. Like a demon in the night, the Great 1906 Earthquake also came to Santa Rosa also bent on mass death and destruction.
Eric Stanley is the history curator and deputy director of the Museum of Sonoma County in Santa Rosa that supplied these pictures. “Santa Rosa, in particular, was devastated by the 1906 earthquake,” he said.
Survivors were shaken awake as whole buildings collapsed around them or on them. “A good portion, a really significant portion, of downtown Santa Rosa was completely destroyed,” said Stanley.
Many never woke up; crushed to death in their sleep. There were over a hundred people killed in the 1906 earthquake in Santa Rosa that only had 7,000 people in it at the time,” said the curator.
Active fault line
Sixty-three years later, in 1969, a time of budding, but far better science-based building codes, a double shaker nonetheless did significant damage and killed one person. “Even understanding all those things, you kind of at the earlier stage of that in the sixties,” said Stanley.
Today, four of Santa Rosa’s School buildings lie near or on the Rodgers Creek Earthquake Fault, capable of up to a 7.3 magnitude rupture. One is already closed with another due to close at the end of the school year for budgetary reasons.
That leaves two elementary schools, Hidden Valley, alongside the fault and Proctor, on the fault. The school board says both are seismically sound and safe to continue operating. “The two that are remaining open are both the ones that have the potential and the ability to grow because the entire site is not impacted by the fault line,” said Nick Caston, Santa Rosa City School Board president.
Staying prepared
In other words, things can and will eventually be moved around.
“What we’re gonna end up having to do is redesign the campus over the next several decades to have our fields and our parking in the front, which are totally acceptable to be over a fault line and actually move our academic builds and our student-serving buildings to the back,” said Caston.
Ultimately, the pictures and relics museums hold from natural disasters are given to those who come, a lesson and a warning. “Real people went through these experiences and we really do have to be aware of that and do our very best to prepare for those kinds of things,” said Stanley.
The 1933 Field Act requires earthquake-safe construction of schools, with evolving seismic codes as we learn more.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
Advertisement
So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
Advertisement
They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
Advertisement
Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
Advertisement
Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
Don’t miss out on our ROUNDTABLE community and the latest news!
It’s completely free to join. Share your thoughts, engage with our Roundtable writers, and chat with fellow members.
Download the free Roundtable APP, and stay even more connected!
-
Hawaii3 minutes ago
Iran War Puts a Pause on Hawaii’s Housing Market Recovery
-
Idaho9 minutes agoIdaho Fish and Game reminds humans not to touch wild baby animals
-
Illinois14 minutes ago‘Millionaires tax’ would hike rate 61% on 22K Illinois small businesses
-
Indiana21 minutes agoWhy Sophie Cunningham turned down multi-year contract offers to return to Indiana Fever
-
Iowa27 minutes agoIowa DOT plans overnight I‑80 closure at northeast mixmaster
-
Kansas33 minutes agoFinal 7-Round Kansas City Chiefs 2026 NFL Mock Draft: Putting my skills to the test against an AI trained to think like Brett Veach
-
Kentucky38 minutes agoAsia Boone will return to Kentucky for senior year
-
Louisiana44 minutes agoGaining momentum: Louisiana climbs to No. 3 in the South for job growth