To the people in San Francisco: Who will you vote for?

[La_Serpiente]

There was an election a few weeks ago where a Democrat and a Green won the runoff election. Now that they are the two final candidates, who are you going to vote for and why?

The candidates are:

Matt Gonzalez (G)

and

Gavin Newsom (D)

Who do you think is going to win?

[confusionisnext]

1. Newsom, partly because

Gonzalez is an Ammiano backstabber.

My friend who supported Leal is supporting Newsom now. I think Newsom will win because he will be more able to get votes from supporters of the other candidates.

[LeftCoast]

2. Gonzalez all the way Baby!

I like Ammiano and voted for him in the last mayoral election, but this time it's Gonzalez for me.

I won't say anything bad about Newsom. He's an ok candidate and if he were a candidate in any other city he'd be called a raving lefty. Only in SF is he considered a conservative. :)

[Character Assassin]

3. Just heard last night that Gonzo supports voting for non-citizens

No way, no how would that jackass ever get my vote now.

[David__77]

5. Are you so sure about that?

I think you should corraborate that...

[Character Assassin]

6. Straight from Bernie Ward's mouth.

Who I don't particularly like, but I do trust enough to be truthful about lefties.

[Character Assassin]

7. Straight from Bernie Ward's mouth.

Who I don't particularly like, but I do trust enough to be truthful about lefties.

[Character Assassin]

8. Did I mention it was straight from Bernie Ward's mouth?

[absyntheNsugar]

10. It is true but...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/11/12/BAGIT2VUTS1.DTL

...only for School Board elections, which personally, I think non-citizens should have a say in. They do pay for the schools just like we do after all...

[AP]

14. In the US non-citizens had the right to vote in most elections until

the early 20th century, I believe, and, when it started, I believe it was part of general right wing anti-immigrant movement that was very reactionary.

I think it's totally obvious that there are a broad range of elections in which non-US citizens should have the right to vote. School Board elections is an obvious one.

If you were an American living in France, and your kids went to French public schools, wouldn't you think it made sense that you could have a say in elections that have a huge impact on you and your kids?

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

4. the ONLY person that could ever make me vote Green

is Gavin Newsom, the Republican mole. The man is scum. A rich trust-funder making his political career by demonizing the poorest people. What an ass. If this was any city other than SF, he'd be a proud Republican.

[cyr330]

12. amen

My sentiments exactly-- I voted for Gonzalez, and I'll vote for him again in the run-off against that rich, frat boy, newsom.

[absyntheNsugar]

9. If I still lived in the city

I would be behind Gonzalez all the way! Gonzalez is real change in a positive direction - Newsom is, as many Gonzalez stickers state, same old shit.

One idea I think was amazing is free MUNI rides for students - Europe practices this in their cities already and its one more step towards the US becoming a civilized country.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

11. I'm going with Matt...

Newsom is nothing but another Willie Brown.

I'll pass.

[Luminous Animal]

13. Matt

I was a strong supporter of Tom Ammiano during his run against Brown but a Matt supporter during this election. I really like Tom but he had a difficult time energizing his base during this election. This became apparent in the outcome where he was only able to garner enough votes to come in third amongst progressives. Tom's problem during the campaign was that he no longer positioned himself as the opposition candidate to the entrenced patronage machine we have currently in San Francisco.

My vote for Matt is as much a vote for him as it is against big money interests and the Brown administration's political patronage that has bloated our city's budget. Matt Gonzales has stated he will reduce number of these $100,000.00 a year recently created patronage jobs and I believe him. There is no doubt that Newsom will carry on Willie Brown's legacy and continue to balance the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it.

Newsom's campaign hinges on voter anger over the homeless. And I understand that anger. Our city is a filthy mess but what seems to escape Newsom supporters is the point that our city has deteriorated under democratic administrations. Of course, there is no guarantee that Gonzales will do any better, but why not give him a chance? We've tried business as usual for decades, lets see if a new approach might work.

Matt does advocate allowing legal non-citizens to vote in school board elections. Quite frankly, this means that he is advocating taxation and representation. What people don't realize is that for the first 150 years of U.S. history, non-citizens were allowed to vote and run for office. Our founding fathers believed that it encouraged immigrants to have a stake in our democracy.

[newyawker99]

15. Hi Luminous Animal!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: