Vote Effectively for Housing in San Francisco

1 vote in San Francisco now = hundreds over the next 4 years

There’s an obscure, often overlooked San Francisco election coming up in June: the Democratic committee that runs our local politics. If you know who to vote for, one informed vote for abundant housing will have the impact of hundreds — even thousands — of votes, in every local and state race, for the next 4 years.

And believe it or not, that’s how politics is supposed to work.

Sonja Trauss of @sfyimby calls this strategy Vote Leveraging:

How 1 vote with SF Young Democrats = 286 votes for housing in a general election for CA State Senate.

San Francisco politics isn’t broken

We’re just losing right now

It’s easy to see housing policies that are obviously broken, and then say “San Francisco politics must be broken” — but the truth is that politics works fine, and people who support housing have just been losing for a very long time. The regional thinktank SPUR and the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition have championed this cause for decades, but in terms of everyday San Franciscans fighting for housing, we’ve been:

out-organized as an influential voting block by anti-housing coalitions

as an influential voting block out-volunteered in critical campaigns by anti-housing volunteers

in critical campaigns outdone in the press by anti-housing media

But that has started to change, slowly but surely. And in a few minutes, today, you can leverage your June vote for housing to help us win the next most important battle.

Vote through a megaphone and it will echo

The Democratic County Central Committee controls local politics. Its election is obscure — and wildly important.

This organization is also known as DCCC. People call it the “dee-triple-cee” or “dee-trip.”

It will be on your ballot if you’re a registered Democrat in San Francisco, but most people don’t know that, so they don’t know who to vote for and then are totally blindsided at the polls. The candidates’ campaigns often have a such a low budget that few voters outside political circles know who the candidates are, much less what each one supports.

That’s Why Organizers Are Important

The San Francisco Yes-In-My-Back-Yard Party (referred to as Yimby) is made of up a coalition of organizations fighting for a functional city with abundant, urban housing. The Yimby Party has done the research for you and knows which candidates will support density and housing construction over the next four years.

Depending on where you live, you’ll either vote for candidates in District 17 or District 19.

A small number of pro-housing people (you) can get these people elected with informed votes. When that happens, the DCCC will be full of people who are much more likely to endorse anything related to building abundant housing, every time it comes up in local conversation, for the next 4 years.

This endorsement has been proven to sway actual elections +/- 8 percentage points. Many voters simply vote down party lines, so the Democratic (DCCC) Stamp of Approval means a lot.

For example, if ballot measure Z were polling 45% Yes and 55% No without any DCCC endorsement, No on Z would likely win the election.

In comes the DCCC. If the DCCC endorsed Yes on Z, that endorsement would likely sway the vote close to 53% Yes and 47% No. The DCCC changes election outcomes.

This Affects Everything

In the next four years, the leaders of the DCCC will be endorsing:

the next Mayor of San Francisco

a whole new round of District Supervisors

all ballot measures (think Mission Moratorium, or Airbnb/Prop F)

transportation policies, like tech shuttles

higher offices in Sacramento that influence state laws about how different kinds of housing are funded and built in California

Your one informed DCCC vote will have lasting impacts on all of these issues and how they sway up to 8% of San Francisco voters. A DCCC endorsement can easily — and often does — change the outcome of how the city works and who runs it.

If enough of us vote in the DCCC election, our influential, visible block of voters will sway San Francisco politics toward building more housing in every race that matters for the next 4 years.

That’s huge.

May the odds be ever in your favor

This is the beginning — and you have a chance to be a part of it.

It’s a core piece of the Yimby party platform that building more housing isn’t the only solution to this crisis, but no solution will work without it. Similarly, filling the DCCC with housing champions isn’t the only solution, but no ambitious housing solutions will come without that support.

Even if we see wild success, we’ll still need campaigns for pro-housing Supervisors, we’ll still need innovative pro-housing ballot measures every year, we’ll still need to send fierce advocates to represent us in Sacramento, and yes — we’ll still need to vote in other elections.

Ever wonder what Obama could have done if voters had filled Congress with Democrats?

But electing local Democratic Party leadership now that’s open to abundant housing puts the odds dramatically in our favor for what comes next. This is how we fill the Board of Supervisors with housing champions and set up aggressive ballot measures to pass.

To set ourselves up for success, we have to play the long-game, and play it well. We don’t have another chance to do this until 2020.

Four steps to Leverage Your Vote for housing

This will take you anywhere from 2 minutes if you’re already a registered Democrat in SF, to 10 minutes if you’re totally unregistered right now or registered in another state. Either way, it’s easy, and it’s important:

Because we’re in San Francisco, only Democrats have sway over local elections and can vote in this race which is critical to local housing policy. Note: If housing is more important to you than your party affiliation and you’re not registered Democrat, you should change your affiliation. That’s your choice and not mine, but if you ask for my advice I’ll tell you it’s worth it.

You won’t believe how many people think they’re registered and find out they‘re not. Please check.

If you’re not registered, or you’re not a Democrat, go to 1b and fix that.

If you’re already a registered Democrat, go to step 2.

It really is that fast.

Make sure to check the box for mail-in ballots. Your ballot — by default — will get mailed to your house before elections. You have until May 23 to register, but just do it now.

We need to get metrics on how many Yimby votes we organize (goal: 2000) and what our yield on voter turnout is.

You’ll get a reminder SMS or email next month to look out for your ballot in the mail, along with the list of the housing-friendly candidates who deserve your vote.

Note: We want to make this as easy as possible for you. But you have to pledge your vote until better tools come along. (hint: they’re coming)

3) RSVP to the Rally for Housing on May 10

Check your calendar and see if you’re free on May 10 at 1PM.

If you are, come to City Hall to support more housing. This shows the press (they’re coming) and the Board of Supervisors (who’s meeting that day) that San Franciscans who want more housing are now an organized voting block ready to hold electeds accountable to it.

Scott Wiener is an ally who has championed many common-sense, pro-housing policies while on the Board of Supervisors. He will be speaking at 1PM.

If you aren’t able to come to the rally, invite your friends to come in your place. The more people who RSVP, the more press will come.

4) Tell your friends about this, in person and online.

Share this on Twitter, post this on Facebook with a short caption, show it to your team at work, show it to your roommates. Rephrase in your own words if you want to seem original. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want to see you excited & confident about your part in voting effectively for housing.

Let’s do this!

Have other questions about San Francisco policy? Excited about effective civic engagement? Tweet me at @grow_sf.