Where are SF’s Progressives Right Now?
Prelude
Billionaires have spent decades yearning to own the West Coast’s crown jewel, plotting and pouring money into defeating progressive politics in San Francisco. Now they traipse through the gold-adorned doors of City Hall on the regular, entertained by their billionaire buddy at the helm of The City’s titanic wealth.
The Content Creator mayor films himself in public, but rarely does he show the side of him that is visible on his jam-packed calendar. Perhaps he’d like San Franciscans to conveniently forget that he’s packed his steering committee with moneyed tech leaders who are close to President Trump, please and thank you. But the fact is that he’s hired his clutch of royal advisors, including the heads of Google, Doordash, Gap, OpenAI, and of course Chris Larsen (who Trump’s SEC just gave a lenient fine to for illegal crypto bullshit).
Standard Fare
In a recently published article, the Standard lumped together everyone from elected Democratic Socialist Jackie Fielder to obscure and unknown Saikat Chakrabarti, trying to understand what leftists, progressives, and liberals are doing in the wake of the luxury takeover in City Hall. While Supervisor Fielder’s office didn’t respond to comments by the Standard, former Supervisor Dean Preston was interviewed by them at length and didn’t fit the narrative they were aiming for – no quotes were used.
We chatted with Dean Preston and his former aide and the leftist political strategy firm Red Bridge Strategies co-owner Jen Snyder about what the Standard left out and what’s really going on with the leftist scene in the wake of Zohran Mamdani’s successful NYC mayoral primary.
The Piece
Preston says his expectations for the Standard piece were low to begin with. “I just think it lacked some perspective from the left,” he explains. “As with most corporate media coverage of progressive and left San Francisco, [it] really kind of lumps it all together in ways that I don’t think are that helpful.”
Who The Hell Is This Guy?
The article features political unknown Saikat Chakrabarti, who has tried to ride the momentum from Mamdani’s campaign to such an extent that the DSA of San Francisco had to release a statement that he wasn’t associated with or representative of their movement. When we asked Snyder her thoughts, she said, “So I think that is the question of the day, right? It’s like, ‘Who the fuck is this guy?’” We reached out to Chakrabarti’s office, who responded but were unable to speak before our deadline.
The Joel Engardio Recall
It also suggests that the recall will be a make-or-break moment for the left. Preston says the framing is compelling to read “because we do have one of the more conservative members of board who was the architect of basically misusing recalls in San Francisco for political advantage now himself facing the recall.” Preston is referring to the now-infamous school board and district attorney recalls of three years ago.
Preston speculates that now, with the more conservative side of San Francisco having complete control of both the Mayor and Board of Supervisors, “there’s sort of no one left to blame. They’re pretty desperately trying to find things like the recall to make it look as if progressives are in control of these things.”
Follow the Money
Preston’s former campaign manager Jen Snyder explains that billionaires are donating incredible amounts of money to right-wing candidates around the country, not just in San Francisco. See our coverage of the Phoenix Project for more on that.
So why are these people interested in SF? “I mean, why wouldn’t you want the jewel?” Snyder asks. “Why wouldn’t you want the most beautiful city in the world? You wanna keep that one intact. You don’t wanna bomb it and destroy it. You just want to get all the people out that you don’t like.” This displacement is an ongoing threat to the folks who call SF home. “It’s the most perfect little seaside, gorgeous, perfectly-sized city and if you could just have that as your backdrop to your very boring fucking ketamine-fueled and empty existence, then you’re stoked.”
Dynamics
Snyder explains that the dynamics of former Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors no longer exist. “Lurie doesn’t even have that possible scapegoat of the Board of Supervisors because he’s got such an incredibly conservative board. Who is he gonna blame when suddenly the problems of San Francisco don’t evaporate?” Snyder points to rapidly rising rents, homelessness, and the Mayor’s shuffling of people from place to place, three issues that have mobilized voters in the past.
But with so many progressive policies and reforms blocked by an ever-more-powerful conservative side of San Francisco, it’s easy to lose hope. As for any candidates who might represent that Mamdani energy? Preston says, “You know, I think, I think there are a lot of people who are really jaded about electoral politics, right?” He thinks folks who are on the left in San Francisco might prefer to really focus more on issue-organizing, ballot measures, or mutual aid work. “It’s always a challenge to get folks who are actually not just careerists but are in it for the right reasons and trying to make a positive impact,” he says.
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