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YODA Is Dying: S.F.’s New Politic Emerges

A Republican elected official once coined the acronym YODA — “Your Only Democratic Alternative” — to describe the state of politics in San Francisco, where virtually all of the city’s state, federal, regional or municipal offices were held by Democratic Party members.

Democratic Party candidates have dominated S.F. politics. From 1986 to 1998, then-state Senator Quentin Kopp, an independent, was just barely tolerated. And in 1994, Democratic party leaders blocked then-Mayor Frank Jordan’s appointment of Republican Supervisor Annemarie Conroy.

Today, though, the Democratic Party is less of a monopoly. Part of the change is due to the growth of the Asian American electorate. Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese Americans — who are not aligned with any political party — comprise 30 to 40 percent of the city’s voters.

Indeed, Asian American voters have diluted the registration of the city’s major parties. Democratic registration, which in 1994 was 63 percent, declined to a low of 56 percent as of this month.

Does that bode well for Republicans? No. Even GOP registration has ebbed from 16 percent in 1994 to barely 13 percent this month. A slate of Republican supervisor candidates, such as Harold Hoogasian or Mike Denunzio, failed in their bids to even qualify for runoffs for districts seen as prime GOP targets.

Adding to the plight of Democrats and Republicans is the emergence of the Green Party.

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party, like some in the Rainbow Coalition, have been re-energized by Ralph Nader’s presidential race. At the same time, some have felt alienated from the political center, represented by Clinton/Gore, Governor Gray Davis, and even local mayors.

Supervisor Matt Gonzalez and school board member Mark Sanchez were the first Green Party converts. Both are part of an emerging Latino power base, with the successful campaigns of Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, Julio Ramos of the college board, and Mary Hernandez, the school board president who barely survived re-election.

All were elected during a time when gentrification was the number one city issue. The Mission was at the heart of two growth control measures, Propositions K and L, which tried to rein in the growth of dot-com live-work spaces. The neighborhood falls in Ammiano’s District 9, which was 48 percent Latino as of 1999.

At the same time, the Democratic Party is itself undergoing internal change.

Reform Democrats who promulgated an agenda of “sunshine in government,” public financing of campaigns, slow growth, and rent control have been led by two-time Board President Tom Ammiano. Last December, his allies stunned moderate democrats, taking advantage of low voter turnout and the grassroots, anti-mayoral sentiment. Four of Mayor Brown’s allies — Michael Yaki, Amos Brown, Alicia Becerril and Mabel Teng (though a recount is currently underway) – lost their bids, while Leslie Katz retired and Barbara Kaufman was termed out.

Last March 2000, enough “reform” Democrats were elected to weaken the S.F. Democratic County Central Committee.

Even among “establishment” Democrats, there was division. State Senate President John Burton and Mayor Brown have not seen eye to eye on endorsements. Burton endorsed two winning Supervisors independent of the mayor — Leland Yee and Chris Daly.

Burton’s aide, Johnnie Carter, was encouraged to opt out of the race for District 10 (Bayview/ Hunter’s Point) supervisor, a position that former Planning Commissioner Linda Richardson was also running for. Brown had backed Richardson.

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Carole Migden endorsed Jake McGoldrick and Aaron Peskin, neither one of whom was aligned with the mayor. McGoldrick and Peskin defeated Brown incumbents Yaki and Becerril. Majority Leader Kevin Shelley supported Yee, as well.

At Yee’s community inauguration on Jan. 6, Burton, Shelley, and Migden spoke and praised him, while the mayor sat silently in the front row.

HERE COMES THE JUDGE: Superior Court Judge Lillian Sing has moved into the 12th District to run for the State Assembly seat currently held by Majority Leader Kevin Shelley, who’s termed out in 2002. She’s having her first exploratory committee meeting this Friday in Chinatown. The district winds through some majority-Asian neighborhoods like the Richmond, Sunset, and Visitacion Valley. Sing may have a clear path. Potential rival Mabel Teng, who was defeated last December for supervisor, deferred to Sing in a “ladies agreement.”