Campaign Watch

Watching IRV: San Francisco progressives aren't the only ones who will mourn the death of instant-runoff voting if the Elections Commission kills it during its Aug. 20 meeting, a fate that only an injunction from Judge James L. Warren is likely to avert (see "Barely Alive," 8/13/03).

As Washington musician-activist Krist Novoselic noted in our Opinion space last week, democracy reformers across the country are watching San Francisco's efforts to counter the two-party system, corrupting campaign contributions, and low voter turnout. And it appears they'll be watching us fail to implement IRV by the voter-mandated deadline of this November.

That failure comes at an ironic time, say Green Party leaders Ralph Nader, Peter Camejo, and Matt Gonzalez, who appeared together for a press conference at the party headquarters in the city Aug. 12. With 135 candidates on the gubernatorial ballot, California's next governor could be chosen by as little as 12 percent of voters, something antithetical to most people's understanding of democracy.

"That is an extraordinary lack of mandate," Nader said, arguing that a statewide IRV system – in which voters rank their choices of candidates and the votes for losing candidates get reassigned to second and third choices until some candidate wins a majority – would better reflect the will of voters.

Both Camejo and Nader pushed such reforms in their last campaigns, for governor and president, respectively. In his current run for governor, Camejo is openly supporting rival progressive Arianna Huffington, even saying he might eventually drop out of the race and swing his support to her if she's doing well and needs it to win.

"But if we had IRV," Camejo said, "we would urge everyone who voted for us to also vote for Arianna." (Steven T. Jones)

Huff and puff: Speaking of Huffington, she has so far spent more time courting Bay Area voters than any of the other major candidates have. On Aug. 13 she began her day in San Francisco talking to reporters, popped over to Oakland for an event highlighting the plight of low-income schoolchildren, then used the gritty-yet-hip S.F. intersection of 16th and Mission Streets as the backdrop for an afternoon press conference-volunteer pep rally.

Huffington told us she also backs a statewide IRV system, so Camejo's support for her could pay dividends for his party if she can win the election: "It would over the long run benefit the Green Party," Huffington said.

Both candidates note that the recall election may indeed be a circus, but it's one that gives progressives a shot at breaking the two-party hold on power. Camejo dubbed it "the worst election we've ever had in California and ... the best election we're ever had in California," while Huffington proclaimed it "a watershed opportunity."

If a cyborg can win, why not a progressive? (Jones)

DCCC dynamics: Neither of the Democratic front-runners in the San Francisco mayoral race – nor District Attorney Terence Hallinan – was able to nail the endorsement of the official local party at its Aug. 13 meeting.

In effect, the members of the Democratic County Central Committee have neutralized their political power in the November 2003 local election. For much of the last 20 years, the DCCC has served as a heavily muscled arm of the Brown-Burton machine, making sure anointed party candidates won their races.

Three years ago, voters elected to the DCCC a block of progressives and independents intent on freeing the committee from machine control (see "The Party's Over," 2/2/00). Clearly, they have succeeded at that, but the result is that neither Brown-backed mayoral candidate Gavin Newsom nor progressive challenger Tom Ammiano – the two top vote-getters – could get the majority needed to win the endorsement, thanks to the "no endorsement" position of board members who supported Susan Leal or Angela Alioto.

In the race for district attorney, supporters of criminal defense attorney Bill Fazio and deputy city attorney Kamala Harris stopped Hallinan from getting the committee's official nod. Hallinan took 14 votes; "no endorsement," 17.

Harris supporters worked DCCC members even as the voting was underway. But as they realized she had no chance of winning, her campaign workers told supporters to vote "no endorsement." And they left nothing to chance: consultant Jim Rivaldo held up a preprinted sign from the audience advising Harris supporters to vote "no endorsement." (Savannah Blackwell)

Cheers: Hallinan may not have picked up his party's endorsement, but he certainly won an enthusiastic one from actor-activist Woody Harrelson during the incumbent D.A.'s campaign kickoff event Aug. 14, a high-spirited affair held at Popolo's Restaurant.

Known these days more for his efforts to legalize marijuana and hemp than for his acting, a glassy-eyed Harrelson lauded Hallinan for helping make San Francisco a safe haven during an aggressive federal war on drug users, calling him "the most progressive district attorney in the history of the friggin' world." (Jones)