Local 21 members scored major victories in the November elections. Across the Bay Area, Local 21 candidates and ballot measure won in over 85% of the races where our union made an endorsement. Our resources and hard work in this election helped defend public services, raised revenues for local governments, and strengthened our ability to achieve fair contracts. These victories were made possible by the significant contributions of Local 21 members who attended campaign events, made phone calls, and walked door to door to talk to voters. We defeated millions of dollars pouring into our local races with people power.
On the statewide ballot, Local 21 members helped defeat Proposition 5 and Proposition 6. Their defeat means that hundreds of transportation infrastructure projects, thousands of Local 21 jobs, and millions in revenue for local governments will be protected.
Here are some of the election highlights from across the Bay Area:
San Francisco
- Local 21 swept the Board of Supervisor races, with the all the union’s endorsed candidates winning in their respective districts. This is a remarkable achievement given the well-funded opposition from the largest San Francisco corporations and developers. We will now go into next year with a much stronger pro-labor majority on the Board.
- Voters approved Prop. C which will provide $300 million annually to expand homeless services and affordable housing. Prop. C gained national attention and sent the message that voters are willing to make wealthy corporations pay their fair share to reduce inequality and address our most pressing social issues.
Oakland
In a big victory, Local 21 helped defeat incumbent City Councilmember Abel Guillen in District 2. - Last year, Abel crossed our union’s picket line and voted against a fair contract settlement. In his place, Local 21 members helped elect longtime union and community organizer, Nikki Bas, who will be the first Filipina councilwoman in Oakland.
- In another exciting development, Local 21 member Sheng Thao was also elected in District 4. We expect these two newly-elected Council members to be strong allies in our efforts to strengthen public services in Oakland.
East Bay
- In Hayward, our endorsed candidates for Mayor and two City Council seats were successfully elected. We also helped pass Measure T which brings in new revenue through an increase in the real estate transfer tax.
- In East Bay school districts, Local 21 members had successes in both Berkeley and West Contra Costa. In Berkeley, all three Local 21 candidates were successfully re-elected.
- In West Contra Costa, it appears that Local 21 endorsed candidates will win at least two of the three open seats.
South Bay
Local 21 members made progress in positively changing the politics of two city governments and worked to successfully reauthorize a County wide sales tax that will protect millions in revenue for local government. Labor endorsed candidates Maya Esparza in San Jose and Mason Fong in Sunnyvale won their elections, with Local 21 members devoting significant time and energy to both races. - Here are the complete results of Local 21-endorsed elections:
Statewide
Loss: Assembly District 15 – Jovanka Beckles
VICTORY: Assembly District 17 – David Chiu
VICTORY: Assembly District 18 – Rob Bonta
VICTORY: Assembly District 19 – Phil Ting
VICTORY: Assembly District 20 – Bill Quirk
VICTORY: Assembly District 25 – Kansen Chu
VICTORY: Assembly District 27 – Ash Kalra
VICTORY: Prop. 1: Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018 (YES) – Authorizes $4 billion in general obligation bonds to support affordable housing and a veterans’ home ownership programs.
VICTORY: Prop. 3 Authorizes Bonds to Fund Projects for Water Supply, etc.: (YES) – Authorizes $8.8 billion in general obligation bonds to fund water supply infrastructure projects, support safe drinking water and water quality, and watershed and fisheries improvements.
VICTORY: Prop 5: Changes Requirements for Home Owners to Transfer Property Tax (NO) – Changes rules for how property taxes are calculated for replacement residences that would result in property tax losses for cities, counties, and schools of around $300 million per year in the near term, growing to over $2 billion per year.
VICTORY: Prop. 6: Eliminate Road Repair and Transportation Funding (NO) – Repeals a 2017 transportation law’s revenue provisions. Would result in loss of transportation revenues of $2.9 billion in 2019, increasing to $4.9 billion annually by 2021, which pay for repairs and improvements to roads, highways, and public transportation.
Loss: Prop. 10: Expands Locals’ Authority to Enact Rent Control on Property (YES) – Addresses a growing housing crisis in California by allowing cities to pass policies that would limit rental rates that property owners may charge for new tenants, new construction, and single-family homes.
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San Francisco City & County
VICTORY: Board of Supervisors, District 2 – Catherine Stefanie
VICTORY: Board of Supervisors, District 4 – Gordon Mar
VICTORY: Board of Supervisors, District 6 – Matt Haney
VICTORY: Board of Supervisors, District 8 – Rafael Mandelman*
VICTORY: Board of Supervisors, District 10 – Shamann Walton
VICTORY: Assessor-Recorder – Carmen Chu
Loss: Board of Education – Monica Chinchilla
VICTORY: Board of Education – Alison Collins
VICTORY: Board of Education – Faauuga Moliga
Loss: BART Board of Directors, District 8 – Jonathan Lyens*
VICTORY: Measure A: Seawall Bond (YES) – Authorizes the issuance of $425 million in general obligation bonds for seismic strengthening and repair of the Embarcadero Seawall.
VICTORY: Measure B: Privacy Guidelines (YES) – Establishes a Privacy First Policy to provide guidance to the City when considering the adoption of privacy-protective laws and policies. Principles include limiting collection and storage of personal information, de-identifying data sets, and securing personal information against unlawful access.
VICTORY: Measure C: Gross Receipts for Homeless Services (YES) – Establishes a gross receipts tax for all business with receipts of over $50 million. This would result in new tax revenue of $250 – $300 million annually dedicated to housing and homeless services, including shelters, prevention, and mental health services.
VICTORY: Measure D: Cannabis Tax (YES) – Establishes an additional gross receipts tax for cannabis businesses. This would result in additional revenue of $7 – $16 million by 2021 with all new revenue going to the general fund.
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Contra Costa County
VICTORY: Martinez City Council – Debbie McKillop*
VICTORY: West Contra Costa Unified School District Board – Valerie Cuevas
Loss: West Contra Costa Unified School District Board – Madeline Kronenberg
VICTORY: West Contra Costa Unified School District Board – Consuelo Lara
VICTORY: Richmond Measure H: Luxury Real Estate Tax (YES) – This measure would increase the tax on luxury real estate transactions and produce an increase of $3.9 million annually for the general fund. These funds would expand youth services like after school programs; ensure city workers receive fair compensation and benefits, and help balance Richmond’s budget.
VICTORY: Measure R: Cannabis Tax (YES) – Establishes a tax for cannabis cultivation and other cannabis businesses that would generate a $1.7 to $4.4 million annually in revenue to fund County public safety, health service, and environmental protection programs.
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Alameda County
VICTORY: Oakland City Auditor – Courtney Ruby
VICTORY: Oakland City Council, District 2 – Nikki Fortunato-Bas
VICTORY: Oakland City Council, District 4 – Sheng Thao*
Loss: Oakland City Council, District 6 – Desley Brooks
VICTORY: Oakland Measure W: Parcel Tax on Vacant Properties (YES) – Enacts a Vacant Property tax to fund homeless services and resources to address illegal dumping. The tax would generate annual revenue between $6.6 million and $10.6 million.
VICTORY: Oakland Measure X: Real Property Transfer Tax (YES) – Changes the current real estate transfer tax from a flat tax to a progressive tax. This would reduce the real estate transfer tax for low and moderate income first time homebuyers and increase the tax on properties over $2 million. The progressive tax would increase annual revenue to the general fund between $1.7 million and $17 million.
VICTORY: Oakland Measure Y: Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance (YES) – Strengthens the just cause ordinance by removing an exemption for owner-occupied duplexes and triplexes and gives the City Council additional authority to strengthen eviction protections.
VICTORY: Oakland Measure Z: Hotel Workers Protections (YES) – Establishes minimum workplace protections for hotel workers, including regulations to reduce workplace sexual harassment and assault, and establishes a $15/hour minimum wage for hotel workers.
VICTORY: Oro Loma Sanitary District Board – Fred Simon*
VICTORY: Berkeley Unified School Board – Ty Alper
VICTORY: Berkeley Unified School Board – Julie Sinai
VICTORY: Berkeley Unified School Board – Ka’Dijah Brown
VICTORY: EBMUD Board of Directors, Ward 7 – Frank Mellon
VICTORY: Hayward Mayor – Barbara Halliday
VICTORY: Hayward City Council – Sarah Lamnin
VICTORY: Hayward City Council – Aisha Wahaba
VICTORY: Hayward Measure T: Increase in Real Property Transfer Tax (YES) – Increases the real estate transfer tax from $4.50 per $1,000 of value to $8.50 per $1,000 of value. Would generate revenue of $13 million annually for the city general fund.
VICTORY: San Leandro City Council, District 1 – Deborah Cox
Loss: San Leandro City Council, District 3 – Lee Thomas
VICTORY: San Leandro City Council, District 5 – Corina Lopez
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Santa Clara County
Loss: Board of Supervisors, District 4 – Don Rocha
VICTORY: San Jose City Council, District 7 – Maya Esparza
VICTORY: Cupertino City Council – Darcy Paul
Loss: Cupertino City Council – Savita Vaidhyanathan
Loss: Cupertino City Council – Tara Sreekrishnan
VICTORY: Sunnyvale City Council, Seat 3 – Mason Fong
Loss: Mountain View City Council – Pat Showalter*
VICTORY: Santa Clara Valley Water Board, District 1 – John Varela
VICTORY: Santa Clara Valley Water Board, District 6 – Tony Estremera
VICTORY: Santa Clara Valley Water Board, District 7 – Gary Kremen
VICTORY: Measure A (YES) – The measure is an extension of a 1/8-cent sales general sales tax that generates $50 million annually for Santa Clara County. The measure was originally passed by voters in 2012 with a 10-year sunset and needs to be renewed. Needs a simple majority to pass.
