San Francisco 'can no longer be called progressive city,' newspaper declares after law-and-order measures pass

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle declared the city "can no longer be called a progressive city" after the success of two law-and-order ballot measures on Tuesday.

Chronicle reporters Aldo Toledo and Joe Garofoli wrote that with the city voting "yes" on ballot measures that would require drug screenings for potential welfare recipients and increase police powers in the city, progressive policies appear to no longer be popular with residents. 

The first of the two ballot measures, Proposition F, requires drug screening for people receiving public benefits and would force drug addicts to go into treatment if they want to continue receiving those benefits. The second, Proposition E, would give law enforcement better surveillance tools and rein in oversight over the force, allowing looser restrictions on car chases, for example. 

The reporters added that, in addition to approving these measures, "voters also backed a slate of moderates to run the local Democratic County Central Committee, whose endorsements could reshape who is elected in San Francisco for years."

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They spoke to supervisor candidate Marjan Philhour, said to be a moderate, who said that the local DCCC – which has been run by progressives – "has been out of touch with actual everyday Democrats in San Francisco. San Francisco Democrats want representation in their local Democratic Party."

"Progressives are looking at a thin bench of future leaders and staring down a deep-pocketed tech community that thinks their policies are destroying the city," the article stated. 

Progressives in the city reportedly "are split on how to regain power, who should lead them and how they should change to win back voters. And they’re worried that moderates are going to continue to steamroll them with a huge financial advantage, fueled largely by wealthy donors."

The Chronicle spoke to "moderate" advocacy group "Grow SF" co-founder Steven Buss, who slammed progressives, saying, "They had their turn. They failed. Now it’s time for the city to move on."

San Francisco residents seem to have become fed up with the city’s soft-on-crime policies. Crime and homelessness in the Bay Area have become a plague for residents, local business owners, and tourists. 

Big corporate franchises like Nordstrom and Macy’s have decided to pull stores from the area because of rampant theft, and their consumers being scared away by crime.

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Mayor London Breed, who proposed Tuesday’s ballot measures, acknowledged the growing discontent among San Francisco residents, who in 2022 recalled District Attorney Chesa Boudin for being soft on crime.

A spokesperson for Breed told Fox News Digital last week, "It seems as though the public here has had enough and is fed up and wants action on these issues."

The Chronicle noted how some progressives feel they aren’t too devastated by Tuesday’s results, noting that November’s election – where Breed faces challengers to her re-election – will be "a better barometer of San Francisco’s progressivism."

It detailed how progressives need to "rally behind better solutions when it comes to the problems that voters care about most, like public safety, housing, homelessness and the drug crisis," and provided examples of prominent progressives strategizing on how to get their messaging straight. The authors also observed, "one message progressives agree on is that they’re in danger."

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They later added, "The bad news for progressives is that those moderates are winning. And they’ve got a lot of money behind them. And now, momentum."

Mayor Breed's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.