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.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco rolls out heightened security measures ahead of World Cup knockout match, 4th of July
The city of San Francisco is taking heightened police and security measures in advance of two major events in the Bay Area this week – the 4th of July and the first knockout round of the FIFA World Cup.
Mayor Daniel Lurie hosted a press conference Monday to address the public on how the city plans to manage the overlapping swarms of soccer fans and 4th of July revelers.
“No matter the occasion, our top priority, and my top priority, remains the same: keeping San Francisco residents and visitors alike safe,” said Lurie.
The two events would be major draws for crowds independently, but combined, and with special occasions marking both, the city wants to ensure that security is a top priority.
The World Cup has already brought hundreds of thousands of people from across the country and the world to the Bay Area, but this week’s game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara is especially notable for the San Francisco as the host city and the United States as a host nation. The stadium, renamed San Francisco Bay Area Stadium for the duration of the World Cup, will host the knockout round match between the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday.
Official fan zones and watch parties for the U.S. match, as well as for Mexico’s match against Ecuador on Tuesday, will be held at multiple locations in San Francisco, including at Thrive City at the Chase Center and at the Pier 39 Fan Zone.
This year’s 4th of July in San Francisco, which already boasts large crowds across the city each year, will have another draw as the city prepares to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday. The city will be hosting a fireworks show on the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday night – only the third time that pyrotechnics have ever been set off from the iconic San Francisco landmark. Fireworks will be launched off the two towers of the bridge and from barges in the water.
The Golden Gate Bridge show will be the only official one in the city – fireworks are illegal in San Francisco.
Authorities advised attendees to use public transportation and to leave plenty of time on both ends of their travel for traffic and delays. Caltrans has announced road closures and detours on U.S. Highway 101 and the entire Golden Gate Bridge for the fireworks show.
San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew said the department is collaborating with multiple state and local agencies to keep people safe, and that police officers have had their days off cancelled to meet the staffing needs that July 4 will require.
“This week will be safe because that’s what we’ve been doing every day,” Lurie said. “It is a glorious time to be here in San Francisco.”
Lurie cited past heavily attended events like Sunday’s San Francisco Pride Parade and Super Bowl 60 in February as examples of the city’s successful management of major crowds.
San Francisco police officers arrested 20 people late Saturday night in SoMa after breaking up an unauthorized “Stud Alley” block party with hundreds of participants, according to the police department. It marked the second round of arrests of Pride attendees this weekend after police arrested five people at the tail end of the Trans March on Friday.
Police officers arrived near Kissling and 11th streets at 10:58 p.m. and “encountered an unsanctioned and unpermitted block party” that had about 300 participants and a D.J., according to a statement from the San Francisco Police Department. The following details are based on the department statement and social media videos; two participants reached by Mission Local declined to comment.
The department said that the large crowd “prompted the response of additional SFPD resources.” Social media footage shows dozens of officers marching through SoMa streets armed with batons, wearing riot helmets and carrying plastic zip-ties.
Officers then gave an order to disperse, the department said, and told the D.J. to leave the area. The D.J. left but the partygoers did not, the department said, and officers tried to “disperse the crowd.” Two people “resisted,” the department said, and officers arrested them.
Several people also “vandalized two vehicles passing through the area,” the department said, and made them “inoperable.” The two vehicles may have been Waymos: One online video shows two Waymos in the street blinking hazard lights, and appears to show one officer telling others that the Waymos had been vandalized.
The party then reformed a few blocks later at Washburn Street about two blocks away, the department said, with about 200 people; the police shut that gathering down as well.
Footage from the scene shows a line of officers in tactical gear advancing rapidly on the crowd, shoving people out of the alleyway before forming a cordon line to block the street. In total, 18 people were arrested on Washburn Street, the department said, for “obstructing or delaying a peace officer and unlawful assembly.”
The department said that “makeshift barricades” had been set up to keep officers at bay; at one point in a video, an officer moves several large rocks that were placed in the street. Two officers sustained minor injuries, the department said.
SoMa has been the site of unsanctioned “Stud Alley” parties on the Saturday evenings of Pride weekend for at least the past six years. The parties have made headlines in past years for graffiti, broken windshields and outraged neighbors.
The organizers of Stud Alley posted an announcement this year that they would not host a party, saying that the party had recently “outgrown itself,” but reminded past party-goers of the unofficial slogan that is frequently graffitied onto walls around the party: Every alley is Stud Alley.
Jesse, a bartender at the nearby bar the Willow, reported seeing cops “everywhere” after the Saturday incident, when people “fled” to the bar to escape. He did not report hearing of any incidents of violence between party-goers and police.
The arrests mark the second encounter between Pride-goers and police this weekend. On Friday, at the end of the Trans March, police officers arrested five marchers for alleged vandalism and assault after march-goers allegedly spray-painted several statues and a person.
On Sunday afternoon, Washburn and Kissling streets still bore signs of the party. Spray painted on the walls of buildings were “Fuck SFPD,” “No Cops at Pride,” and “Every Alley Stud Alley.”
It’s series finale time, and it’s rubber match time, as the San Francisco Giants host the Atlanta Braves.
It’s a battle of Cy Young southpaws. For the Giants, it’s Robbie Ray, who won the award in 2021 in the American League. Ray, a 34-year old two-time All-Star, is making his 17th appearance of the year, and is 6-6 with a 3.70 ERA, a 4.80 FIP, and 80 strikeouts to 42 walks in 87.2 innings. After a rough patch, he’s been exceptional in his last two games, including allowing just an unearned run in eight innings against the Athletics his last time out.
For the Braves, it’s Chris Sale, who won the prestigious pitching award in 2024. Sale, a 37-year old nine-time All-Star, has made 14 starts, and is 8-5 with a 2.14 ERA, a 2.71 FIP, and 99 strikeouts to 21 walks in 84 innings. He allowed two unearned runs in 5.2 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers in his last start.
Enjoy the game, everyone.
Who: San Francisco Giants (34-48) vs. Atlanta Braves (49-32)
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area
Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM
-
New York26 minutes agoRead the Indictment of Malik Beasley
-
Los Angeles, Ca31 minutes agoStolen Sea Scouts boat found in Marina del Rey, suspect arrested
-
Detroit, MI52 minutes agoMichigan House passes bill to restrict big investors from amassing single-family homes
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoSan Francisco rolls out heightened security measures ahead of World Cup knockout match, 4th of July
-
Dallas, TX1 hour agoKlyde Warren Park reveals expansion plans, construction timeline
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoPerson hospitalized after fire breaks out at North Miami Beach apartment building
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoScottish soccer fan who died in Boston was ‘Tartan Army to his core,’ fundraising page says – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO1 hour agoNuggets decline Jalen Pickett’s team option for 2026-27 season, sources say
