Dick Spotswood: Election results troubling for North Bay progressives

All I’ll say about the national election results is that it’s not going to work out well even in the mid-term for anyone including Republicans. Let’s instead focus on election results in Marin.

There were no surprises in North Bay-North Coast elections for U.S. Congress and state Assembly.

In the Second Congressional District, the incumbent, San Rafael Democrat Jared Huffman, trounced Sonoma County Republican Chris Coulombe. In early returns Huffman scored about 72% of the vote to Coulombe’s 28%.

Damon Connolly, also a San Rafael Democrat, easily defeated his Republican challenger, Novato winemaker Andy Podshadley, in the Marin-Sonoma 12th Assembly District. Initial reports showed Connolly winning with 71%.

Similar outcomes in the congressional and Assembly elections demonstrate that as was true across the nation, voting is now based on partisan affiliation. The days when voters bragged that they “vote for the person not the party” are long past.

The results on Marin ballot proposition targeting stronger rent control present a bleak picture for progressives and Marin’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. Those groups overplayed what they wrongly thought was a strong hand for the political left following the events surrounding the police murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Leaders convinced a few Marin city councils that they represent a large segment of Marinites. This election proved that, even in “deep blue” Marin, the far left’s political clout is scant.

The Marin DSA’s principal effort, other than supporting the Palestinian cause against Israel, appears to be enacting local rent control ordinances across the county. The effort flopped at the ballot box.

Instead, rent control and so-called “just cause eviction” ordinances were soundly defeated in Fairfax, Larkspur and San Anselmo. Fairfax has the reputation of being Marin’s most progressive town. The statewide implication is that if left-leaning Fairfax defeats local rent control, there are few municipalities other than Berkeley where it will win voter approval.

Rent control measures in Fairfax, Larkspur and San Anselmo all required a simple majority. Veteran observers expect the early returns to hold given the substantial spread between their passage and defeat.

Fairfax, Measure I: A “yes” repeals both the just-cause eviction and rent-stabilization ordinances. A “no” vote ensures the new stringent standard. Early returns show that the “yes” vote repealed local rent control prevailing with an astounding 66.5%.

Larkspur: Measure K. A “yes” vote strengthens the local rent control enacted earlier this year. It would limit rent increases on designated units to 60% of the consumer price index or a maximum of 3% annually, whichever is the lowest. A “no” vote opposed this proposition. According to election night counting, K is losing with 64% of Larkspur voters casting “no” ballots.

San Anselmo, Measure N: A vote “yes” enacts a council-written local rent control limiting increases for triplexes and larger apartment houses to 60% of the consumer price index or 5% annually. The council wisely decided to submit the issue to voters instead of simply passing it as did Fairfax’s council. That was smart. Returns report a whopping 66% of Hub City voters expressing a loud and clear “no.”

A second San Anselmo proposition, Measure O, would enact a “just cause eviction” law. According to Ballotpedia, A “yes” vote mandates “property owners of three or more units to provide longer notice, relocation benefits, and the right to return if terminating a tenancy without the tenant’s fault, and to pay for temporary displacements.”

Looking north, Sonoma County progressives and animal rights activists placed Measure J on the ballot. It would’ve banned what proponents describe as “factory farms.” That’s despite Sonoma’s reputation for sustainable agriculture. The specific impact of the proposition wasn’t clear. What is crystal clear is that Sonoma voters perceived the initiative as anti-commercial agriculture. Measure J was crushed with 85% of Sonomans voting “no.”

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.