S.F. voters surprisingly conservative on issues

Bruce Reyes-Chow came 10 minutes before 7:00 am to vote at 107 Congo St. in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Bruce Reyes-Chow came 10 minutes before 7:00 am to vote at 107 Congo St. in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close S.F. voters surprisingly conservative on issues 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

It sounds like a stereotypical San Franciscan's dream: spend big on affordable housing, explore public power, decriminalize prostitution, vote against the military in schools - and, like icing on the political cake, name a sewage treatment plant after George Bush.

But none of that happened.

Despite the city's far-left reputation, San Franciscans defeated a host of liberal ballot measures and voted in favor of keeping JROTC in the public schools. And perhaps even more surprisingly, 1 in 4 voters voted to ban same-sex marriage.

"There's a real, solid conservative vein in San Francisco," said political consultant Jim Ross, who said he saw numerous Yes on Prop. 8 lawn signs while driving through the west side of the city.

In addition to conservative Republicans, it is thought that support for the same-sex marriage ban came from some Latinos, African Americans, and Chinese Americans who may have voted for religious reasons. So why don't we hear from that portion of the city more often?

"If you're a conservative, a real conservative in San Francisco, you're so alienated and so marginalized, you just don't have a voice in the process," said Ross, who said he was especially surprised the affordable housing measure is losing. "I thought giving away affordable housing would be like giving away cold beer on a hot day," he said with a laugh.

The outcomes for the Board of Supervisors races, however, appear to have gone the exact opposite way. In the three swing districts, the more left-leaning candidates - Eric Mar in District One, David Chiu in District Three and John Avalos in District 11 - are all winning. Because of the ranked-choice voting system, results won't be available until at least Friday.

Political consultant David Latterman said voters want "neighborhood guys, their man on the street" to represent them at the Board of Supervisors, but look at citywide ballot measures with a more centrist bent - especially in tough economic times.

"Citywide, it's not the time to tinker," he said.

The Department of Elections still has tens of thousands of ballots to count, including 16,000 provisional ballots and 27,000 mail-in ballots dropped off at polling places Tuesday. In addition, only mail-in ballots and early voting ballots that were submitted by Saturday have been counted so far. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said 130,000 ballots are still outstanding, though the elections staff wouldn't confirm that number.

That means Proposition B, which would authorize spending $30 million annually on affordable housing, could still win. But so far, it's losing by about 1 percent. The other most-watched ballot measures are unlikely to see their outcomes changed.

Supervisor Chris Daly said many ballot measures lost - including Mayor Gavin Newsom's special court to prosecute quality-of-life crimes, which got trounced - because they represented new programs and new spending.

"You didn't see a litmus test around liberal or conservative," he said. "You saw the electorate rejecting new proposals ... new items with associated spending based on economic conditions and the meltdown of the global financial systems."

In what may be a first, Leo Lacayo, a member of the San Francisco Republican County Central Committee, agreed with Daly's premise.

The third-generation San Franciscan, who lives near Mount Davidson in the southwest portion of the city, said he gets tired of the people who come to the city in their 20s voting ideologically. This time, he thinks, voters were more cautious because of the economy.

"They don't really have a stake in the city - they don't own property, they don't own businesses," he said. "They pass all these crazy ideas and then they leave town and stick the bill with the taxpayer. But because money's tight, even people who don't have a stake in the city said, 'Wait a minute.' "

Tami Bryant, a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council who lives in the Western Addition, didn't have a great election night locally. She voted for affordable housing, public power, decriminalizing prostitution, renaming the sewage plant and against JROTC.

She was surprised none of that went her way, and even more surprised to hear some co-workers say they'd voted for Prop. 8.

"I have conversations that surprise me. Here I am living in San Francisco, and I'm talking to Republicans and people who have very right-wing ideas," she said. "But sometimes we have to find common ground with people who think differently than us."