In our first year as The San Francisco Standard, we’ve had the unusual opportunity to cover no less than four separate elections. The year began with the contentious school board recall election in February, then there was the special election for State Assembly in April, won by Matt Haney, followed by the regular June primary election that featured the recall of DA Chesa Boudin.

Now we have the big event on Nov. 8. Locally, a lot of it is about ballot measures, especially relating to housing and car-free streets. But there is also a contentious district attorney race to pick a full-term successor to Boudin. That together with several supervisor races will likely offer a clear view of where the city is headed politically over the next few years.

For state offices, Governor Gavin Newsom and most statewide Democratic candidates are well-positioned. A lot of the drama will be on the ballot initiatives, including competing sports betting measures that are set to smash political spending records (you have doubtless already noticed!)

Nationally, it will be a critical showdown for control of Congress, and for numerous state-level offices that could have a huge impact on the next presidential election. There won’t be much drama in San Francisco on this front, though a few Congressional seats on the outer edges of the Bay Area–and more elsewhere in California—could be in play.

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