Beers, buffalo wings and raucous cheers were plentiful Wednesday night at Kezar Pub as San Francisco Republican Party members hosted a watch party for the first presidential debate ahead of the GOP primary.
In the absence of Republican frontrunner and former President Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy scored major political points and plenty of laughs from the debate audience and those in the pub. Nikki Haley made an impressive, if measured, showing. Chris Christie continued to be the butt of every joke. And Ron DeSantis mostly refused to act regular.
At its busiest, the watch party topped 80 people, with seats hard to come by in the crowded back room. Kezar Pub, a sports bar specializing in Irish grub and drinks, is usually known for being the spot for 49ers fans to gather across from the team’s old stomping grounds, Kezar Stadium. On Wednesday, it became a hub for conservatives, a rare occurrence in a city that hasn’t elected a Republican to public office since James Fang was voted onto BART’s Board of Directors in 1990.
But what is it like to be a Republican in San Francisco? Although there are 34,500 registered Republican voters in San Francisco, conservatives say meeting another of their kind is rare.
“Lonely,” said Philip Wing, a Bay Area resident for over 60 years and the 1994 Republican nominee for San Francisco’s seat in the state Assembly. “You have to be quiet and nod your head. You always have to be careful when you speak out.”
Registered Democrats in San Francisco outnumber GOP voters by almost 10 to 1.
Ramaswamy seemed happy to soak up the spotlight left by Trump’s absence. The entrepreneur-turned-politician announced his candidacy six months ago and is currently tied for second with DeSantis behind Trump in recent polling.
Ramaswamy’s forceful disagreements with the other candidates, particularly around his position of cutting funding for the war effort in Ukraine and his adamant defense of Trump, were met with hearty approval from the Kezar crowd. His closing remarks—hitting on party-line favorites (“God is real. There are two genders. Fossil fuels are a requirement for human prosperity. An open border is not a border.”)—drew sustained applause.
In the back room of the pub, drinkers stared at TV screens lining all four walls. Make America Great Again hats were conspicuously absent, with only a couple people in the crowd donning the provocative caps. Instead, Yuta Moro wore a red hat that from afar resembled a MAGA hat but up close read, “Calm Down, It’s Just a Red Hat.”
“I have to be pretty careful when wearing this around,” he said. “Sometimes people will yell at me from their cars.”
Other home runs of the night included Haley’s hard stance on deterring both China and Russia by continuing to send aid to Ukraine. The crowd was lukewarm on defenses of Trump’s indictment but heartily endorsed assertions that President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party are weaponizing the Department of Justice for political gain.
Notably, the crowd was muted during the abortion segment of the debate. There were mild responses to anti-abortion rhetoric espoused by former Vice President Mike Pence, with many outright boos for statements proposing a complete federal ban on abortions.
Several local GOP candidates—including Stephen Martin-Pinto, who is running for District 7 supervisor—showed up at the event.
Throughout the night, political coordinators milled about the room to collect names and contact information for mailing lists and volunteer opportunities. Jeremiah Boehner approached many of the younger members in the room to sign up for the San Francisco Young Republicans, a community of conservatives aged 18 to 40.
“Local politicians demonize us, but Republicans and Democrats care about a lot of the same issues—just have different ways of solving them,” Boehner said.
At the end of the night, a straw poll conducted by local GOP chair John Dennis named Ramaswamy the runaway winner of the debate. Haley was given kudos for her debating prowess, while Pence and DeSantis maintained enthusiastic support.
“Vivek Ramaswamy is interesting. I like that he’s interesting; that’s what Elon Musk says, right?” Wing said. “I was also really impressed by Nikki Haley tonight.”
“I could tell people here were more into Trump than any of the candidates onstage tonight,” Moro said. “I’m still a DeSantis guy.”
Local GOP officials said they will host more watch parties for the upcoming primaries. If Wednesday night’s showing was any indication, they will be loud and opinionated affairs.