Random SF Congressional Election
San Francisco, CA
April 8, 2008
No, it's not an April Fools joke. There's an election in April. (Because three elections in one year just wasn't enough.) This one's kinda weird so stick with us. First you want to figure out if this applies to you. California's 12th congressional district covers the southwest corner of San Francisco and runs down to Pacifica on the coast and Redwood City on the Peninsula. Check out this google map.
Tom Lantos had been the congressman for CA-12 from 1981 until his death in February. This is a special election for the remainder of his term, which goes through the end of the year. In June there will be a primary election for the new term that starts next year. Then in November, there'll be a general election for that new term. Confused yet? Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. We didn't have time to make an official endorsement in this election, but here's some info on the candidates.
House of Representatives - California's 12th district
If any of the candidates get over 50% in this election, they go straight to Washington and become a congress person (and a super delegate). If not, the leading vote-getters from each party will face off in June for the remainder of Lantos' unexpired term. That election will also be the primary for November's election for a new term.
Jackie Speier (D)
Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement
Jackie Speier has the back story of a soap opera character: as a congressional aide, she was shot 5 times in 1978 by followers of Reverend Jim Jones while on a fact-finding mission in Guyana. We endorsed her back in 2006 in the Democratic primary for Lieutenent Governor, which she narrowly lost to John Garamendi. She hasn’t always lived up to the highest ideals of San Francisco progressives (by supporting things like the death penalty and the privatization of the Presidio), but by Sacramento and Washington standards, she’s a pretty solid progressive. When she was running for Lt. Governor, she showed off detailed knowledge of all of the Lt's wonky roles. However her new website is pretty light on specifics.
Barry Hermanson (G)
Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement
Barry Hermanson is a long-time San Francisco activist. He co-authored SF's 2003 minimum wage initiative. He was the co-chair of the S.F. Living Wage Coalition. For 25 years he ran a temp agency in San Francisco that paid its workers a living wage. He's running for congress to draw attention to the U.S.'s out-of-control military spending: 60% of our discretionary budget goes to the Pentagon and Iraq. Check out his pie chart showing our country's budget:
If you were making the budget for the U.S., is this what it would look like?
Michelle McMurry (D)
Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement
Michelle McMurry is an African-American doctor with an impressive history as a physician, scientist, and global health advocate. This is the first time she's run for office.
Mike Moloney (R)
Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement
Mike Moloney is a Republican who is focusing his campaign on ending the war in Iraq, which is totally pissing off the Republican Party. That's kind of fun.
Greg Conlon (R)
Endorsed Vote: No Endorsement
Greg Conlon is the stereotypical Republican that the SF GOP dug up to try to take away Mike Moloney's thunder.
