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Seattle City Council election results

By Amee LaTour
In Local
November 14, 2019 at 12:03 PM
Seven seats on the Seattle City Council were up for election on Nov. 5. Three incumbents ran for re-election, and all three won. The other four races were open.
 
The election winners are:
  • District 1: Lisa Herbold (incumbent)
  • District 2: Tammy Morales
  • District 3: Kshama Sawant (incumbent)
  • District 4: Alex Pedersen
  • District 5: Debora Juarez (incumbent)
  • District 6: Dan Strauss
  • District 7: Andrew Lewis
 
The races saw record-breaking satellite spending of over $4 million, which was more than 5 times the amount spent in 2015, the last time the same seven council seats were up for election.
 
Amazon contributed $1.5 million to the local chamber of commerce’s PAC—Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy (CASE)—which endorsed candidates in each race, including challengers to incumbents Lisa Herbold and Kshama Sawant. A 2018 head tax proposal, which the council passed and subsequently repealed, met with opposition from the chamber of commerce and Amazon. Civic Alliance for a Progressive Economy (CAPE) and UNITE HERE! political action committees, affiliated with labor groups, endorsed and spent in support of candidates opposing those backed by the chamber in most races.
 
Candidates endorsed by CAPE and/or UNITE HERE!—including incumbents Herbold and Sawant—won five of the seven races (Districts 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7). Candidates backed by CASE, including incumbent Debora Juarez, won the other two (Districts 4 and 5).
 
There are nine seats on the council—seven district seats and two at-large seats. Both CASE and UNITE HERE! Local 8 endorsed in the 2015 and 2017 council elections, which decided the makeup of the current council except for one seat that is held by a member appointed after Rob Johnson—a CASE endorsee—resigned in 2019. CAPE formed in 2019.
 
The following shows how many members of the council heading into the elections were supported by CASE and/or UNITE HERE! and how many candidates won seats as a result of that election.
 
Pre-election council makeup:
  • 1 CASE-only endorsed member,
  • 4 UNITE HERE!-only endorsed candidates,
  • 3 endorsed by both groups,
  • 1 appointed
 
Election winners:
  • 2 CASE-only endorsed members,
  • 6 UNITE HERE!-only endorsed members,
  • 1 endorsed by both groups
 
Washington uses a vote-by-mail system, and election officials have continued counting ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 5. As of Tuesday night, fewer than 1,000 votes remained to be counted in each district, according to the King County Elections office website.
 


New York senator introduces bill to allow felons to vote while incarcerated. What are your state’s rules?

By Janie Valentine
In State
November 14, 2019 at 11:58 AM
Sen. Kevin Parker (D) introduced a bill in the New York State Senate on October 30 that would allow felons to vote while incarcerated. If passed, the bill would make New York the third state allowing inmates to vote, along with Maine and Vermont.
 
Voting rights for convicted felons vary substantially from state to state. Most states automatically restore voting rights either immediately after a felon is released from prison or once the full sentence has been served, including probation or parole. In Nebraska, there is a two-year waiting period after the completion of a felony sentence before voting rights are restored. Seven states permanently disenfranchise felons who have committed certain categories of crimes, while all felons in Kentucky and Iowa are permanently disenfranchised unless rights are restored on an individual basis.
 
Parker, who represents District 21, was elected in 2002. New York has a Democratic state government trifecta, as Democrats hold the governorship and have majorities in the state Senate and the state Assembly.
 


Colorado Citizen Voters announces submitting 200,000 signatures for 2020 initiative to require Colorado voters to be U.S. citizens

By Jackie Mitchell
In Ballot measures
November 14, 2019 at 11:58 AM
On November 12, 2019, Colorado Citizen Voters, sponsors of Colorado Initiative 76, announced having collected and submitted around 200,000 signatures to qualify the initiative for the 2020 ballot. To qualify for the ballot, 124,632 valid signatures are required.
 
This measure would amend the Colorado Constitution to state that only citizens of the United States are qualified electors in Colorado.
 
Constitution as it presently exists: Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years, has resided in this state for such a time as may be prescribed by law, and has been duly registered as a voter if required by law shall be qualified to vote at all elections.
 
Proposed change under the ballot measure: Only a citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years, has resided in this state for such a time as may be prescribed by law, and has been duly registered as a voter if required by law shall be qualified to vote at all elections.
 
Similar amendments are certified to appear on the 2020 ballot in Alabama and Florida.
 
Voters in North Dakota decided on a similar measure, Measure 2, in 2018. The measure amended the North Dakota Constitution to state that “only a citizen” rather than “every citizen” of the U.S. can vote in federal, state, and local elections. Measure 2 was approved by a vote of 66% to 34%.
 
Voters in San Francisco approved a measure, Proposition N, in 2016 which allowed non-citizens to register to vote in school board elections. New York City allowed non-citizens to vote in local school board elections from 1968 to 2003 until the city abolished elected school boards. As of 2019, 11 cities in Maryland, including Hyattsville, Mount Rainier, and Takoma Park allowed non-citizens to vote. Chicago has allowed non-citizens to vote and serve on its school councils since 1989.
 
All state constitutions mention United States citizenship when discussing who can vote in that state’s elections. State constitutional language discussing citizenship is inclusive in most states, meaning the language states who can vote (e.g. “every citizen” or “all citizens”), but does not state that non-citizens cannot vote. Arizona and North Dakota have exclusive language, meaning the states’ constitutions require voters to be U.S. citizens exclusively.
 
Twenty-one (21) states use the specific phrase “Every citizen of the United States…” when discussing who is a qualified elector. An additional 16 states use the word “every” but structure the sentence differently. Six states use the word “all” or “any” when discussing citizenship and suffrage. Six other states have some other way of phrasing the sentence. For example, Virginia’s constitution says “Each voter shall be a citizen of the United States” and includes a section in the Bill of Rights that says, “all elections ought to be free; and that all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community, have the right of suffrage.” North Dakota is the only state to use the phrase “Only a citizen of the United States…” after having changed it from “every” via a constitutional amendment in 2018.
 


Washington residents voted on 15 ballot measures on November 5; here’s what happened

By Jackie Mitchell
In Ballot measures
November 14, 2019 at 11:53 AM
Fifteen statewide ballot measures were on the ballot in Washington on November 5, including three binding statewide ballot measures and 12 non-binding tax advisory votes.
 
Citizen initiated measures:
 
Referendum 88, which was rejected, was a statewide vote on I-1000 (an initiative to allow affirmative action that was approved by the legislature). A yes vote on R-88 was a vote to approve I-1000 and allow affirmative action policies in Washington, and a no vote on R-88 was a vote to reject I-1000 and continue to ban preferential treatment, restricting certain affirmative action policies in Washington. As of November 12, the vote on R-88 was 49.49% in favor to 50.41% against. An estimated 48,000 ballots were left to be counted, but most of them were in counties that had opposed to I-1000 according to already counted ballots.
 
Initiative 976 was approved. It was designed to (1) limit annual license fees for vehicles weighing under 10,000 pounds at $30 except voter-approved charges; (2) base vehicle taxes on the Kelley Blue Book value rather than 85% of the manufacturer’s base suggested retail price; and (3) repeal authorization for certain regional transit authorities, such as Sound Transit, to impose motor vehicle excise taxes. As of November 12, the vote on I-976 was 53.01% in favor to 46.99% against. King County, Seattle, and Sound Transit had announced their intentions to file lawsuits over Initiative 976.
 
Legislative amendment:
 
The state legislature referred one constitutional amendment to the 2019 ballot. The amendment was approved. It authorized the Washington State Legislature to pass bills that address the succession of powers and duties of public offices when the offices’ incumbents and legal successors are unavailable for carrying out the office during periods of catastrophic incidents that are considered emergencies. As of November 12, the vote on the amendment was 65.26% in favor to 34.74% against.
 
Tax advisory votes:
 
The 12 tax advisory votes were nonbinding questions that advised the legislature to repeal or maintain bills passed in the 2019 legislative session that increased taxes. A majority of voters were in favor of maintaining three bills and repealing the other nine. The 12 advisory questions on the ballot this year was the largest number of advisory questions on tax increases in Washington required by the state’s automatic process. There were between three and five in 2017, 2015, and 2013.


U.S. Supreme Court releases January argument calendar

By Sara Reynolds
In Federal
November 13, 2019 at 5:23 PM
The U.S. Supreme Court has released its January argument calendar for the 2019-2020 term. The court will hear eight hours of oral argument in eight cases between January 13 and January 22.
 
As of November 11, 2019, the court had agreed to hear 53 cases during its 2019-2020 term.
 
January 13
  • Lucky Brand Dungarees v. Marcel Fashion Group
  • Thole v. U.S. Bank
 
January 14
  • Kelly v. United States
  • Romag Fasteners v. Fossil
 
January 15
  • Babb v. Wilkie
 
January 21
  • Shular v. United States
  • GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA LLC
 
January 22
  • Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue
Additional reading:


Chesa Boudin wins San Francisco District Attorney election

By David Luchs
In Local
November 13, 2019 at 5:18 PM
Chesa Boudin defeated Suzy Loftus, Leif Dautch, and Nancy Tung in last Tuesday’s nonpartisan election for San Francisco District Attorney. Loftus conceded the race Saturday after mail-in ballots tallied over the course of the past week indicated Boudin would win.
 
Under San Francisco’s system of ranked-choice voting, voters select up to 10 candidates for each office on the ballot and rank their preferences. Votes are initially allocated to each voter’s first-place candidate. If no candidate wins a majority of the first-place vote, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and their voters’ voters are reassigned to their next preferred candidate.
 
As of 7:30 a.m. PST on November 11, Boudin had won 35.7% of the first-place vote to Loftus’ 31.1%. A projection released by the city department of elections indicated that Dautch would be eliminated in the first round, followed by Tung in the second round. The report projected a Boudin victory over Loftus in the third round by a margin of 1.66 percentage points—2,825 votes.
 
This was the first open-seat election for San Francisco District Attorney since 1909. The race attracted national attention, with presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris issuing endorsements. Sanders endorsed Boudin while Harris, who held the office herself before winning election as California attorney general, endorsed Loftus.
 


Peter King announces 2020 retirement

By Joel Williams
In Federal
November 13, 2019 at 5:13 PM
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) announced that he would not seek re-election to Congress in 2020. King was first elected to the U.S. House in 1992 representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District. He has represented New York’s 2nd Congressional District since 2012.
 
King is the 20th Republican member of the U.S. House to announce he would not be seeking re-election in 2020. There are also 8 Democratic members of the U.S. House to announce 2020 retirements so far. In the 2018 election cycle, 52 members of the U.S. House—18 Democrats and 34 Republicans—did not seek re-election.
 
Currently, Democrats hold a 234-197 majority in the U.S. House with one independent member of the chamber. In November 2020, all 435 seats will be up for election.
 
Additional reading:


Trump has appointed the 4th-most federal judges as of Nov. 1

By Emily Aubert
In Newsletters
November 13, 2019 at 4:08 PM
The Daily Brew
Welcome to the Wednesday, November 13, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Trump has appointed the fourth-most federal judges at this point in his presidency in the last 100 years
  2. Ten candidates have qualified for the next Democratic presidential primary debate
  3. Boudin wins San Francisco District Attorney election

Trump has appointed the fourth-most federal judges at this point in his presidency in the last 100 years

Donald Trump appointed—and the Senate confirmed—157 Article III federal judges through November 1, 2019, his third year in office. This is the fourth-most federal judicial appointments through this point in a presidency of all presidents dating back to Theodore Roosevelt. Jimmy Carter (177), George W. Bush (167), and Bill Clinton (166) made more appointments.

The average number of federal judges appointed by a president through November 1 of their third year in office is 91.

Article III federal judges are appointed for life terms by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate per Article III of the United States Constitution. Article III judges are those on the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. courts of appeal, U.S. district courts, and the Court of International Trade.

The median number of Supreme Court justices appointed by each of the last 20 presidents at this point in a presidency is two—the number appointed by Trump. William Taft’s (R) five Supreme Court appointments were the most among this group of presidents. Franklin Roosevelt (D), Carter (D), and George W. Bush (R) did not appoint any SCOTUS justices through November 1 of their third year in office.

The median number of U.S. Court of Appeals justices appointed by this point in a presidency is 18. Trump and Carter appointed the most among the last 20 presidents with 43 each. Trump’s 43 U.S. Court of Appeals appointments represent 24% of the 179 federal appeals court judgeships. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (R) and Woodrow Wilson (D) appointed the fewest, five each.

The median number of U.S. District Court appointees is 66. George W. Bush appointed the most with 137 and Theodore Roosevelt appointed the fewest with 10. Trump has appointed 110 federal district court judges so far—16% of the 677 judgeships in the district courts.

Learn more

Ten candidates have qualified for the next Democratic presidential primary debate

Today—Nov. 13—is the deadline for presidential candidates to qualify for the fifth Democratic primary debate, which takes place at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta on Nov. 20. The debate will be hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post.

Ten candidates have qualified: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang. All ten participated in the previous debate Oct. 15 in Westerville, Ohio.

Julián Castro—who also appeared in the last debate—has failed to meet the polling threshold to qualify. The other candidate who participated in the Oct. 15 debate—Beto O’Rourke—dropped out of the race on Nov. 1.

A candidate has two ways to meet the polling threshold to qualify for the Nov. 20 debate:

  • Receive 3 percent support or more in at least four national or early state polls—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada. The four polls must be sponsored by different organizations or be of different geographical areas if they have the same poll sponsor, or
  • Receive 5 percent support or more in at least two single state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada. The two polls may be from the same geographical area and poll sponsor.

Candidates also need to meet a fundraising threshold of 165,000 unique donors with a minimum of 600 donors per state in at least 20 states.

So far, six candidates have already met increased polling and fundraising thresholds for the sixth Democratic debate in Los Angeles Dec. 19: Biden, Buttigieg, Harris, Klobuchar, Sanders, and Warren. Candidates have until Dec. 12 to qualify.

And there’s still time to register for today’s quarterly briefing to catch you up on all the happenings in the 2020 presidential race. That webinar—which I’ll host with Emily Aubert, the primary author of our daily and weekly Presidential News Briefing newsletters—takes place at 11 a.m. Central time. Click here to snag a spot.

Learn more→

Boudin wins San Francisco District Attorney election

Chesa Boudin has been declared the winner of the Nov. 5 nonpartisan election for San Francisco District Attorney. He was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and the city’s Green party affiliate. Boudin defeated Suzy Loftus, Leif Dautch, and Nancy Tung in the first open-seat election for that office since 1909.

Under San Francisco’s system of ranked-choice voting, voters rank their preference for up to 10 candidates for each office. Votes are initially allocated to each voter’s first-place candidate. If no candidate wins a majority of the first-place vote, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and their votes are reassigned to their next preferred candidate.

As of Monday—Nov. 11—Boudin had received 35.7% of the first-place votes to Loftus’ 31.1%. Loftus conceded the race Saturday after mail-in ballots tallied over the past week indicated Boudin would win.

A projection released by the city department of elections indicated that Dautch would be eliminated in the first round, followed by Tung in the second. The report projected a Boudin victory over Loftus in the third round by a margin of 1.66 percentage points, or 2,825 votes.

Incumbent George Gascón announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election. After Gascón resigned Oct. 4, San Francisco Mayor London Breed appointed Loftus to the office on an interim basis. Loftus was endorsed by Breed, the city branch of the Democratic Party, Sens. Kamala Harris (D) and Dianne Feinstein (D), and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

Ballotpedia readers were able to learn more about these candidates before the election through our Candidate Conversations project—developed in conjunction with EnCiv—to help voters get to know candidates as people. Candidate Conversations is an online video portal where candidates can answer questions, and voters can watch those answers, anytime, for free, to learn more about them.
 

Learn more→

 



Sanford drops Republican primary bid against Trump

By Emily Aubert
In Newsletters
November 13, 2019 at 4:03 PM
Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing

November 13, 2019: Mark Sanford ended his presidential campaign on Tuesday. Public hearings begin in the impeachment inquiry on Wednesday. blank    blankblank  

 Presidential Facebook ads, 2019-2020 (November 3-9, 2019)

Notable Quote of the Day

“The party could well be too capacious to coalesce around any single candidate with sufficient intensity to take down President Trump.

The Democratic electorate is extremely broad in ideological terms. During the last presidential cycle, a lifelong socialist independent who joined the Democrats only to compete for the party’s nomination managed to come in a strong second place to a center-left candidate fully supported by the Democratic establishment. Four years later, a billionaire who’s most accurately described as a liberal Republican is attracting modest but significant support among a very different kind of Democrat before he’s even officially joined the race.

The distance separating Bernie Sanders from Michael Bloomberg is impossibly vast. Yet those are the ideological boundaries of the Democratic Party in 2019.”

– Damon Linker, The Week

Democrats

  • Joe Biden released an ad focused on his foreign policy experience in Iowa on Tuesday. The ad, which will air on television and digital channels, is part of a previously announced $4 million ad buy in the state.

  • Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio), who dropped out of the presidential race in October, endorsed Biden.

  • In an episode of the Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart podcast, Cory Booker discussed gun violence, healthcare, and his campaign.

  • Booker and Kamala Harris also participated in a town hall hosted by the NAACP on Tuesday about a racial discrimination lawsuit filed against Comcast.

  • Steve Bullock discussed bipartisanship and his presidential campaign in an interview on Boston Public Radio.

  • Julián Castro attended an immigration roundtable in Iowa with refugees from Honduras and El Salvador on Tuesday.

  • Amy Klobuchar will attend a campaign event in San Carlos, California, on Thursday.

  • National Nurses United is set to formally endorse Bernie Sanders in Oakland, California, on Friday.

  • Joe Sestak wrote an op-ed about defense spending in the Newark Star-Ledger.

  • Tom Steyer filed for the New Hampshire state primary on Tuesday.

  • Elizabeth Warren proposed a corporate perjury law on Tuesday that would establish criminal liability for companies and executives that knowingly provide false information to U.S. agencies.

  • Marianne Williamson will speak at the University of Nevada Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Republicans

  • Mark Sanford ended his presidential campaign on Tuesday. “I don’t think on the Republican side there is any appetite for a nuanced conversation on issues when there’s an impeachment overhead,” Sanford said.

  • Donald Trump spoke at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday, where he said that economic growth would be the focus of his re-election campaign.

  • Public hearings begin in the impeachment inquiry into Trump on Wednesday.

  • Bill Weld will campaign in New Hampshire and file for the state primary on Wednesday.

On the Cusp: Tracking Potential Candidates

Flashback: November 13, 2015

Hillary Clinton led the Democratic field in an early superdelegate count by the Associated Press with at least 359 superdelegates.

blank

 



Trump has appointed the 4th-most federal judges as of Nov. 1

By Dave Beaudoin
In Newsletters
November 13, 2019 at 2:53 PM
 
Welcome to the Wednesday, November 13, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Trump has appointed the fourth-most federal judges at this point in his presidency in the last 100 years
  2. Ten candidates have qualified for the next Democratic presidential primary debate
  3. Boudin wins San Francisco District Attorney election

Trump has appointed the third-most federal judges at this point in his presidency in the last 100 years

Donald Trump appointed—and the Senate confirmed—157 Article III federal judges through November 1, 2019, his third year in office. This is the fourth-most federal judicial appointments through this point in a presidency of all presidents dating back to Theodore Roosevelt. Jimmy Carter (177), George W. Bush (167), and Bill Clinton (166) made more appointments.

The average number of federal judges appointed by a president through November 1 of their third year in office is 91.

Article III federal judges are appointed for life terms by the president of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate per Article III of the United States Constitution. Article III judges are those on the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. courts of appeal, U.S. district courts, and the Court of International Trade.

The median number of Supreme Court justices appointed by each of the last 20 presidents at this point in a presidency is two—the number appointed by Trump. William Taft’s (R) five Supreme Court appointments were the most among this group of presidents. Franklin Roosevelt (D), Carter (D), and George W. Bush (R) did not appoint any SCOTUS justices through November 1 of their third year in office.

The median number of U.S. Court of Appeals justices appointed by this point in a presidency is 18. Trump and Carter appointed the most among the last 20 presidents with 43 each. Trump’s 43 U.S. Court of Appeals appointments represent 24% of the 179 federal appeals court judgeships. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt (R) and Woodrow Wilson (D) appointed the fewest, five each.

The median number of U.S. District Court appointees is 66. George W. Bush appointed the most with 137 and Theodore Roosevelt appointed the fewest with 10. Trump has appointed 110 federal district court judges so far—16% of the 677 judgeships in the district courts.

Learn more

       
 

Ten candidates have qualified for the next Democratic presidential primary debate

Today—Nov. 13—is the deadline for presidential candidates to qualify for the fifth Democratic primary debate, which takes place at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta on Nov. 20. The debate will be hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post.

Ten candidates have qualified: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang. All ten participated in the previous debate Oct. 15 in Westerville, Ohio.

Julián Castro—who also appeared in the last debate—has failed to meet the polling threshold to qualify. The other candidate who participated in the Oct. 15 debate—Beto O’Rourke—dropped out of the race on Nov. 1.

A candidate has two ways to meet the polling threshold to qualify for the Nov. 20 debate:

  • Receive 3 percent support or more in at least four national or early state polls—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada. The four polls must be sponsored by different organizations or be of different geographical areas if they have the same poll sponsor, or
  • Receive 5 percent support or more in at least two single state polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and/or Nevada. The two polls may be from the same geographical area and poll sponsor.

Candidates also need to meet a fundraising threshold of 165,000 unique donors with a minimum of 600 donors per state in at least 20 states.

So far, six candidates have already met increased polling and fundraising thresholds for the sixth Democratic debate in Los Angeles Dec. 19: Biden, Buttigieg, Harris, Klobuchar, Sanders, and Warren. Candidates have until Dec. 12 to qualify.

And there’s still time to register for today’s quarterly briefing to catch you up on all the happenings in the 2020 presidential race. That webinar—which I’ll host with Emily Aubert, the primary author of our daily and weekly Presidential News Briefing newsletters—takes place at 11 a.m. Central time. Click here to snag a spot.
 

Learn more→

Boudin wins San Francisco District Attorney election

Chesa Boudin has been declared the winner of the Nov. 5 nonpartisan election for San Francisco District Attorney. He was endorsed by Bernie Sanders and the city’s Green party affiliate. Boudin defeated Suzy Loftus, Leif Dautch, and Nancy Tung in the first open-seat election for that office since 1909.

Under San Francisco’s system of ranked-choice voting, voters rank their preference for up to 10 candidates for each office. Votes are initially allocated to each voter’s first-place candidate. If no candidate wins a majority of the first-place vote, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and their votes are reassigned to their next preferred candidate.

As of Monday—Nov. 11—Boudin had received 35.7% of the first-place votes to Loftus’ 31.1%. Loftus conceded the race Saturday after mail-in ballots tallied over the past week indicated Boudin would win.

A projection released by the city department of elections indicated that Dautch would be eliminated in the first round, followed by Tung in the second. The report projected a Boudin victory over Loftus in the third round by a margin of 1.66 percentage points, or 2,825 votes.

Incumbent George Gascón announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election. After Gascón resigned Oct. 4, San Francisco Mayor London Breed appointed Loftus to the office on an interim basis. Loftus was endorsed by Breed, the city branch of the Democratic Party, Sens. Kamala Harris (D) and Dianne Feinstein (D), and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

Ballotpedia readers were able to learn more about these candidates before the election through our Candidate Conversations project—developed in conjunction with EnCiv—to help voters get to know candidates as people. Candidate Conversations is an online video portal where candidates can answer questions, and voters can watch those answers, anytime, for free, to learn more about the
m.
 

Learn more→