Election Day

Gov. Brown's Frequent Use of Pardons is Retro California

Between 1991 and 2010, California's governors granted pardons to 20 convicted criminals. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown pardoned 21. On Monday, Brown pardoned 79 felons. Brown's use of pardons represents the larger shift in the criminal justice mindset he has overseen in the state -- higher rates ... More >>

Top Five Local Chefs to Follow on Instagram

The photo-sharing social network Instagram has just widened its addicting potential by making member profiles visible on the Internet instead of only via mobile apps. This means that we can enjoy widescreen food porn from some of San Francisco's leading tech-savvy chefs. These are the top five who c ... More >>

Judge Temporarily Blocks Proposition 35, Sex Trafficking Law

Election Day has passed, and you know what that means: Now the lawsuits begin.Today a judge granted a temporary stay to block part of Proposition 35, the measure passed on Tuesday that says those convicted of sex trafficking should be restricted on the Internet. The measure also increases prison sen ... More >>

District 7: Only 97 Votes Separate F.X. Crowley and Norman Yee

As the Department of Elections churns through the uncounted ballots, the race in District 7 has been transformed from ridiculously tight to preposterously tight. As of 11 p.m. on Election Day -- following the reversal of a "formatting error" -- only 338 votes separated leader F.X. Crowley from Norma ... More >>

Horny San Franciscans Use Election Day to Focus on Real Issues: Getting Laid

Election Day is not just about exercising your civic duty as a responsible citizen-- it's also about getting laid, because, let's face it, when the economy is bad and you are unemployed, how else will you define the American Dream?From what we noticed on Craigslist, voting, elections, or maybe just ... More >>

Obama Voting App: How Many People With Your Name Already Voted Today?

So you've voted today. Now what? It's a long day of waiting to see how all those negative ads paid off. Thankfully, the Obama campaign has devised this weird app that'll help us all pass time while waiting for election results to come in tonight (and for your opponent to make their Words with Friend ... More >>

Adventures of the Radish That Looks Like a Man

Between the election and the super storm, this has been a pretty serious week in the news world. Thank god for Japanese farmer @konsai_umemama, who, upon discovering a daikon radish in his field that looked like a running person, decided to photograph it in various whimsical settings and post them o ... More >>

Politics and Protest

Now the Examiner Ditches Julian Davis

Julian Davis' troubled campaign for city supervisor just got a little more so after a second newspaper dropped its endorsement amid allegations that he groped a woman at a political event six years ago. The San Francisco Examiner printed an editorial today withdrawing its support for Davis, saying t ... More >>

Michael Savage Goes Back on the Air to Berate Liberals Again

Turns out, the very scary conservative Michael Savage couldn't keep his mouth shut for long. The shock jock's radio show "The Savage Nation" is reportedly going back on the air next week via Cumulus Media Networks on KSFO-AM San Francisco.The show, formerly in the 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time ... More >>

Good Dog, Bad Romney: PAC of Pooches to Protest Republican Candidate This Weekend

You think you're upset over how Mitt Romney's been smack-talking about the poor. Dog lovers across the Bay Area are even more disturbed by the way he treats pups.Because this is the Bay Area, where people likes dogs more than kids, a group of canines and their owners are planning to gather at the do ... More >>

Foreclosures Crisis' Effect on the Election Could Be Deeper Than Just Policy Debate

The 2012 general election will be the first since the national rate of mortgage delinquencies rose above 10 percent. While it seems the fever broke in early 2010, when nearly 15 percent of home loans were past due, the country's foreclosure rate is still twice as high as it was pre-recession.And for ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Obama to Make One Final Stop in Bay Area Before Election Day

Word on the street is that President Obama will grace the Bay Area with his presence one last time before Election Day, meaning, he would really, really like some more of your money. According to the Chronicle, the president will make his pitch for pennies -- and lots of them --  on Oct. 8 in a ... More >>

Jeff Adachi Responds to Police Slander Allegations

​Gary Delagnes, president of the Police Officers Association, doesn't miss many opportunities to take shots at local pols -- figuratively speaking -- as evidenced again in today's Chron. He penned a brief yet sharp op-ed bluntly calling out Public Defender Jeff Adachi for "slandering" local cops.F ... More >>

No Disclosures: New Ethics Committee Rules Gag Reporting of Election Funds

Supervisor David Chiu's Campaign Headquarters Burglarized

​Police are at Supervisor David Chiu's campaign headquarters investigating a burglary that happened overnight, according to staff. Staffers were at the headquarters, located on Van Ness Avenue and Clay Street, until midnight yesterday preparing for Election Day tomorrow. Everything was in order wh ... More >>

Mayor Ed Lee Gets it Done -- For the 1 Percent

The final 24 hours prior to Election Day are shaping up to be nothing short of brutal for some candidates. With accusations of illegal campaigning and a burglarized headquarters, you have to wonder just how low these campaigns are willing to go?Turns out, pretty low. Mayor Ed Lee's campaign, which h ... More >>

Public Defender Alleges Cops Stole From Child's Piggy Bank, Used Excessive Force (VIDEO)

Charles Tran (at podium) alleges excessive force by SFPD at today's press conference​Update 5:00 p.m.: SFPD department spokesman Sgt. Michael Andraychak says Chief Suhr will forward the theft allegations onto the FBI, which is investigating the previous criminal misconduct allegations brought forw ... More >>

Ross Mirkarimi Uses Zombie Costume to Get Out the Vote

With Election Day one week away, most candidates are tripping over themselves to get your vote. And then there's Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who is choosing to scare people into voting for him for San Francisco sheriff. We're not sure if other pols dressed up for Halloween last night (maybe David Chi ... More >>

Facebook: The New S.F. Voter Guide

Who reads that shit anyway?​Long gone should be the days of those wasteful and cumbersome voter guides delivered to your mailbox every election cycle. Just weeks before Election Day, some local programmers invented a much more efficient and less sterile way to get to know your candidates. Votesf.c ... More >>

Fantasy Voter Fraud

The Five Dumbest Songs About Weed (To Blame For Prop 19's Failure)

​There might be no excuses in rock 'n' roll, but politics, as we've heard this week, is made of little else. Pundits and the wonkocracy hint that Prop. 19's failure, like every other Election Day disaster, was due to the hordes of scared-shitless elderly voters driven to the polls last Tuesday by ... More >>

The Identity Card

Voting by race has made the city's political representation more Asian. It could be what puts 33-year-old Jane Kim on the board of supervisors.

Democratic Excuse: Blame the Gays!

​If this election goes as poorly for the Democrats as everyone says it's going to you can lay odds that there is one population that will be blamed for the defeat: the GAYS.  Yep, that's right. The gays are gonna screw this up for everyone -- again. The target on the gays was drawn thi ... More >>

Judging Matthew Rothschild

Why is the Democratic Party elite backing an underqualified party operative for the local judiciary?