Mail-in ballots ought to have arrived by now, and in case yours is already accumulating mud, we have put collectively an election information to assist.
Why it issues: Whereas midterm elections in left-leaning California may not get as a lot nationwide consideration as swing states like North Carolina or Georgia, there are many hotly contested propositions and native races to observe.
Plus, we’re deciding whether or not to re-elect our governor.
Voting within the 2022 midterm elections:
💌 Early, mail-in voting is an choice from now by Election Day.
🗳️ To vote in particular person, discover your nearest polling place.
Polls will likely be open 7am–8pm on Nov. 8.
We have damaged down a few of the high races and poll measures:
California governor: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vs. Brian Dahle (R)
Picture illustration: Axios Visuals. Images: Jerod Harris by way of Getty Pictures; and Courtesy of the marketing campaign of Brian Dahle
With registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans by a 2-1 ratio in California, incumbent Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is predicted to haven’t any main contest from Brian Dahle (R) in his bid for a second time period.
Regardless of a recall try towards him final 12 months, Newsom had a wholesome 58% versus 31% benefit over Dahle in a latest ballot from the Public Coverage Institute of California.
What they’re saying: In its endorsement of Newsom, the San Francisco Chronicle criticized the governor for vetoing a invoice to legalize supervised drug websites, calling the choice “seemingly politically motivated” and “cowardly.”
Nonetheless, the paper applauded Newsom for a slew of housing payments he is signed into legislation in latest weeks, together with these geared toward changing vacant business areas into viable housing.
Questions have swirled round whether or not Newsom will run for president in 2024, a notion he is denied.
As for Dahle — a household farmer and state senator from Lassen County — the Chronicle known as him a “considerate and passionate advocate for rural California with a observe report of bipartisan compromise.”
Particulars: Dahle has centered his marketing campaign on crime charges in California, telling CalMatters earlier this 12 months that his high objective as governor could be to “get violent criminals off our streets.”
He is additionally made meals and fuel costs, training, wildfires and the state’s excessive price of residing pillars of his marketing campaign.
As for reproductive rights, Dahle personally opposes abortion, however he mentioned abortion providers would stay in California if he had been elected due to the Democratic majority within the state legislature.
To see endorsements for state and federal races from quite a lot of native teams, we have compiled this checklist.
San Francisco’s district legal professional race
Within the coming weeks, voters will resolve if Brooke Jenkins, the mayor-appointed district legal professional, will retain her position as San Francisco’s high prosecutor.
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The front-runners: Jenkins and her opponent Joe Alioto Veronese are broadly thought-about the extra average candidates, whereas John Hamasaki skews progressive.
Each Hamasaki and Alioto Veronese are civil rights attorneys who previously served on the police fee, the physique that oversees the San Francisco Police Division.
Jenkins, who has served as town’s DA since July, was an outspoken critic of former DA Chesa Boudin and have become an vital member of the recall effort towards him.
By the numbers: Jenkins is main the fundraising race thus far, with $126,564 in donations, adopted by Hamasaki with $87,044 and Alioto Veronese with $56,472, per the most recent marketing campaign filings.
San Francisco’s District 6 supervisor race
The race for District 6 supervisor is poised to be a detailed one.
The front-runners: Mayor London Breed-appointed incumbent Matt Dorsey, who previously led communications for the San Francisco Police Division, and Honey Mahogany, who labored as an aide to former D6 Supervisor Matt Haney.
Mahogany is a transgender activist and former contestant on the TV present “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” She could be the primary transgender supervisor in San Francisco if elected.
Dorsey is brazenly homosexual, HIV-positive and in restoration for substance abuse.
What they’re saying: If elected, Mahogany informed Axios, she’d prioritize rising beds for these with psychological well being problems and “get the parents who’re scuffling with dependancy points to the purpose of psychosis, off the streets.”
Dorsey, in the meantime, informed Axios: “The problems round drug overdoses, open-air drug scenes, drug dealing” are what “moved [his] coronary heart” to need to characterize D6.
Since his June appointment, he is launched a number of payments to handle drug-related points, together with “Right to Recovery” and “Sober New Deal.”
We have put collectively this checklist so you’ll be able to see how native teams are voting on San Francisco races, together with the varsity board and different supervisor elections.
State and native propositions
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
There are seven statewide propositions, although the 2 centered on sports activities betting (Props. 26 and 27) are maybe getting probably the most discover.
Catch up fast: Proposition 26 would legalize in-person betting in any respect tribal casinos and 4 non-public horse-racing tracks. Income would go towards downside playing prevention and psychological well being (15%), playing enforcement (15%), and the state’s normal fund (70%).
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In the meantime, Proposition 27 would legalize on-line sports activities betting throughout the state, with income going towards preventing homelessness (85%) and to tribes that do not take part in gaming (15%).
The backdrop: Prop. 27, specifically, has been the main focus of most events’ consideration — and cash — pitting operators like FanDuel and DraftKings towards Native American tribes, who would not get pleasure from unique gaming rights within the state if it passes.
$350 million has been spent on advert campaigns for ($170 million) and towards ($180 million) Prop. 27, per Politico, shattering the state’s report for a single proposition ($224 million on 2020’s Prop. 22 on app-based drivers’ employment standing).
Each main events in California have opposed Prop 27, with Democrats and Republicans standing with the Native American tribes.
In the meantime, there are 14 native propositions, however two subjects — housing and what to do with JFK Drive — have dueling measures on this November’s poll.
Catch up fast: Prop. D (backed by Mayor London Breed) and Prop. E (authored by D1 Supervisor Connie Chan) each purpose to streamline reasonably priced housing initiatives in San Francisco.
Prop. I and Prop. J, however, each take care of the way forward for JFK Drive and whether or not it ought to open to automobile visitors.
The intrigue: If rival measures each go, the proposition that receives probably the most votes will win.
To see endorsements from native teams spanning the political spectrum, we have combed by voter guides and put this checklist collectively for you.
Mr Gambhir talkedabout the city’s affordability by highlighting the lower cost of living in Bengaluru
If you are an active social media user, you must have come across several posts debating the merits and the demerits of Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. The three metropolitan cities each have a loyal fan base, and tweets discussing their livability often go viral. Recently, an Indian-origin entrepreneur took to X to draw parallels between Bengaluru and San Francisco. In a detailed thread, Hardeep Gambhir, founder of The Residency, shared several aspects of Bengaluru that matched with San Francisco.
Mr Gambhir noted that he returned to India after seven years of living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Upon landing at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport, he noticed the efficient ‘Uber Zone’ system that eliminated waiting time.
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”Instead of booking an Uber and finding it, you simply book an Uber and go to the first car in the queue of cars, tell your PIN to the driver and off you go to your destination. No waiting time,” he wrote.
Since I moved out of India 7 years ago, I thought I’d never live here again.
After spending a lot of time in the Bay, in May, I moved to Bangalore where I had never been to start @_TheResidency.
And it has been an immaculate SF-like experience in this city.
He was also surprised when an auto-rickshaw driver replied in English. ”I was expecting to speak a bit of Hindi here this summer and surprisingly when I first spoke Hindi to an Auto-rickshaw driver, I got replies from him in English. Turns out Bangalore is the city with English as the most spoken language in India. I was so surprised by this,” he added.
The entrepreneur highlighted Bengaluru’s vibrant startup ecosystem by comparing HSR Layout to San Francisco’s Hayes Valley. He also praised Bengaluru’s quick commerce services like Swiggy Instamart, which he likened to “Walmart delivery in 4 to 7 minutes, available 24×7.”
The entrepreneur then mentioned low carrier charges in India and the availability of mobility services like Yulu electric bikes, which he likened to San Francisco’s Lime, Veo and Baywheels bikes.
Mr Gambhir also talked about the city’s affordability by highlighting the significantly lower cost of living in Bengaluru compared to San Francisco. He further praised the city’s amazing weather, but mentioned the two things he didn’t like– ”mosquitoes and ridiculous security deposits for renting.”
I highly recommend for someone curious about another country’s startup ecosystem like SF to come visit here. Also, the e-visa should take 3-5 days to get fully remote. Oh, not to mention. Uber is shit cheap,” he concluded.
There’s a particular writer at the Athletic who isn’t a believer in the 2024 San Francisco 49ers.
After naming the 49ers an offseason loser because they lost Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw, and hired a new defensive coordinator, Mike Jones of the Athletic listed San Francisco among the overrated teams heading into this NFL season.
Again, Jones focuses heavily on the losses on the defensive line:
Kyle Shanahan always gives them a chance, and Brock Purdy again has a talented supporting cast, although Brandon Aiyuk faces an uncertain future. Questions loom over the defense, however, with first-year coordinator Nick Sorensen directing a unit that lost Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw to free agency and must deal with the extended absence of Dre Greenlaw, who is recovering from Achilles surgery. The 49ers hope to put another heartbreaking Super Bowl defeat in the past and make another run at a ring, but doing so could prove more challenging than many expect.
It’s worth noting the 49ers replaced Armstead and Kinlaw with Maliek Collins and Jordan Elliott. The fixation on Kinlaw is interesting given the defensive tackle’s general lack of effectiveness last season, but it wouldn’t be Earth-shattering if Elliott was a better rotational DT option for San Francisco this season. Whether Collins and others can replace Armstead in the aggregate remains to be seen and is certainly a sizable question mark for the 49ers to answer this year.
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The Greenlaw absence is also a pretty significant blow. San Francisco signed former All-Pro De’Vondre Campbell to replace him. Second-year LBs Dee Winters and Jalen Graham could also be in the mix to start at Will LB, but none of those three are liable to be as effective as Greenlaw is.
Alas, calling the 49ers ‘overrated’ when they were a couple plays from winning the Super Bowl last year seems like a stretch based on the reasoning listed. After all, both Pro Football Focus and ESPN agree San Francisco has the best roster in the NFL.
A better argument would focus more heavily on the 49ers’ offensive line which they made only marginal moves to improve this offseason. There’s a case to be made they could conceivably be worse on the offensive front which would certainly have an impact on Purdy. Last year in his first full season as a starter Purdy had pretty good turnover luck which could wind up coming back to bite him and the 49ers this season.
There are also some questions in the secondary with uncertainty about who will start in nickel packages with cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir and Charvarius Ward. Strong safety Talanoa Hufanga is coming back from an ACL tear which leaves a question mark about whether he’ll return to All-Pro form, and second-year safety Ji’Ayir Brown is an unproven commodity who figures to start alongside Hufanga.
Those are a lot of hurdles for Sorensen to clear in his first season as a defensive coordinator, which are much bigger reasons to have concerns than just the losses of Armstead and Kinlaw.
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Injury luck was also, for the most part, on the 49ers’ side last season. They had the injuries to Hufanga in Week 11 and to Greenlaw during the Super Bowl, but outside of that they avoided major injuries and were relatively healthy going into the final game of the season. It wouldn’t be irrational if a person wanted to bet against injury luck for them again in 2024.
For now though on paper the 49ers figure to field one of the best teams in the NFL. Whether they can be just the second team since the turn of the century to return to the Super Bowl after losing it remains to be seen, but saying they’re ‘overrated’ for the reasons listed in the Athletic feels a tad off base.
The San Francisco Giants are in desperate need of pitching help.
They have been completely decimated by injuries, forcing them to use a plethora of different starting options and overwork their bullpen, something manager Bob Melvin has stated his concerns about.
Knowing they needed another option in their relief unit, they called up a top performer from their Triple-A affiliate to come in and give their current arms some much needed help.
The Giants are also hoping their injured starters can make their returns soon.
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Robbie Ray sounds like he is progressing well after putting together a good outing in his rehab stint. Blake Snell also was able to make an outing in the minors, although that didn’t go quite as expected when he was charged with two earned runs on three hits and three walks during 1.1 innings of work.
San Francisco brought in the reigning NL Cy Young winner to become the ace of their staff alongside Logan Webb. The idea was these two would be able to stabilize their rotation in front of some exciting backend starters before their players on the IL were ready to return.
That has not been the case.
The Giants desperately need Snell back and performing to an elite level.
But as the left-hander works his way back from his groin strain, it sounds like he’s not too pleased with how fast he is being pushed to getting back onto the Major League mound.
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“I haven’t felt like myself yet. It’s just, ‘We need you. We need you. We need you.’ It’s not like, ‘Let’s get him right,’ and I have to deal with it,” he said according to Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle.
That is quite the explosive quote.
Snell had previously voiced his frustration about going on the injured list for the second time this season, but to seemingly take a shot at the organization for wanting back on the field is certainly eye-opening.
“I want to be healthy and 100% and I haven’t been. I’ve just been fighting to rush back. So that’s my take. I’m frustrated with that. And you don’t get the product of what I should be and it’s just frustrating. I want to go out there and dominate and pitch the way that I pitch but it’s more important that I’m out there,” he added.
When the veteran star has been on the field, it hasn’t quite gone smoothly.
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In six starts, he has posted an 0-3 record and 9.51 ERA.
At the beginning, his struggles were understood as he signed so late in the process that he wasn’t able to get a full ramp up period in Spring Training. Then, he got injured and started the cycle of trying to get back to health.
It’s understandable why Snell would be so frustrated. He was brought in to be a difference maker for his new team and he’s been anything but that.
These comments certainly won’t help anything, though.
It will be interesting to see what develops following this statement.
