2022 Primary Election Guide

Did you know there’s a primary election coming up this Tuesday June 7th? Don’t worry, neither do most Californians considering only 13% have returned their ballots so far. It’s most likely sitting on your desk and you’ve been meaning to open it, probably not realizing what’s inside. While “only” the primary election, this is California (for me) so it’s full of interesting choices to make.

I’ve complied a voting guide based on my readings of candidate and proposition statements along with other ancillary research. These summaries are shorter than in previous years but I’ve tried to include a few bits of insight as to why I’ve made the choices. You can also reference the California Official Voter Information Guide or the online San Francisco Voter Information Pamphlet.

You can return your ballot by mail, vote in person, or drop it off.

Federal

Senate - Alex Padilla
Take note: there are two places to vote for US Senate. Alex was appointed as one of our Senators when Kamala Harris was elected as Vice President of the United States. The first vote is to keep him in this role to serve out the rest of her term (ending January 3, 2023). The second vote is the primary choice for the next round of voting in November.

Congress - Nancy Pelosi
While I think her time has come and gone as our representative in Congress, I was disappointed to find any credible candidates to replace her. It’s quite sad that someone who is 82 is our current best option to represent a young and vibrant constituency.

State (California)

Governor - Gavin Newsom

Lieutenant Governor - Eleni Kounalakis

Secretary of State - Shirley N. Weber

Controller - Ron Galperin

Treasurer - Fiona Ma

Attorney General - Rob Bonta

Insurance Commissioner - Ricardo Lara

Bard of Equalization Member, District 2 - Sally J. Lieber

Local (San Francisco)

City Attorney - David Chiu

Proposition A - ✅ Yes
Muni reliability and street safety bond. Does not raise taxes.

Proposition B - ❌ No
Building inspection commission reforms. Gives too much power to the Board of Supervisors who are notorious for not being able to get things done, especially building more housing.

Proposition C - ❌ No
Changes to recall timelines & vacancy appointments. Sad losers of recent recall elections want to change the rules. While there seems to be a lot of them lately, they’re already quite rare.

Proposition D - ✅ Yes
Creates the office of victim and witness rights along with legal services for domestic violence victims.

Proposition E - ❌ No
Confusing limitation to “behested payments” that seems good on the surface but will negatively impact the city’s ability to work with many philanthropic organizations.

Proposition F - ✅ Yes
Changes the membership of the Refuse Rate Board, how refuse rates are set, and the rules governing future changes. In case you’re not aware, Recology as been conning residents for years now by charging way more than necessary for garbage pickup.

Proposition G - ❌ No
Public health emergency leave requirement for companies with more than 100 employees worldwide. It’s already hard to do business in SF. We don’t need additional rules that only apply to SF employees. These should be state or federal policies.

Proposition H - ✅ Yes
Recall Chesa Boudin. He confuses his ideological battles for criminal justice reform with his actual day job of prosecuting criminals. Our police are stretched thin and massively understaffed yet Chesa consistently releases offenders (and repeat offenders) while frequently dismisses charges. He doesn’t know how to run a District Attorney’s office nor how to keep his citizens safe. We made a mistake electing him, now we’re fixing it.