WI: Matt Gonzalez wins the 2003 SF mayoral election

NKVD

In 2003, San Francisco came very close to having a Green mayor, Matt Gonzalez. But Gavin Newsom, who ran as a moderate against the leftist Gonzalez, managed to win by a 52-47 margin.

What would have happened, if Gonzalez won the election? How would a Green running The City by the Bay effect the Green Party, California politics, and of course, the city of San Francisco itself?
 

Orville_third

Banned
I could see the Greens getting more attention, and other third parties as well. (Though this was the year before the Democrats tried to get Nader off various ballots.) Who knows? Perhaps this could mean no California jungle primary. Or, even better, it could mean a new Speaker of the House in 2009, after Nancy Pelosi got defeated by an independent congresswoman.
 

HunterX

There will be probably very little reaching consequences, just like the success of reform candidates mattered very little in the grand scheme of things. It will be dismissed as a San Francisco thing and won't matter beyond local politics.
 

Pellegrino

HunterX said:
There will be probably very little reaching consequences, just like the success of reform candidates mattered very little in the grand scheme of things. It will be dismissed as a San Francisco thing and won't matter beyond local politics.
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I agree, little impact outside of San Fran. However it could lead to Cindy Sheehan running in 2006 against Nancy Pelosi as a Green. And she could do a lot better than she did in 2008 (when she ran as an independent IIRC). She lost to Pelosi 72% to 16%, so it is hard to see how she could win at all. But if there is a legitimate Green machine in place in 2006 (which there would be if Gonzalez was mayor) and without Obama Mania giving Pelosi a bit of a boost in 2008, she could make a serious run at it. Iraq was still a raw nerve in 2006, but sort of faded by 2008. Could Sheehan win? Doubtful, but a Gonzalez vicotry in 2003 could create a series of events that could lead to Pelosi's downfall and the first Green Congresswoman in Washington.
 

Orville_third

Banned
Pellegrino Shots said:
I agree, little impact outside of San Fran. However it could lead to Cindy Sheehan running in 2006 against Nancy Pelosi as a Green. And she could do a lot better than she did in 2008 (when she ran as an independent IIRC). She lost to Pelosi 72% to 16%, so it is hard to see how she could win at all. But if there is a legitimate Green machine in place in 2006 (which there would be if Gonzalez was mayor) and without Obama Mania giving Pelosi a bit of a boost in 2008, she could make a serious run at it. Iraq was still a raw nerve in 2006, but sort of faded by 2008. Could Sheehan win? Doubtful, but a Gonzalez vicotry in 2003 could create a series of events that could lead to Pelosi's downfall and the first Green Congresswoman in Washington.
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Well, Sheehan's showing was actually the BEST any opponent of Pelosi had since her first election. (It helps that Pelosi has refused to debate since then...)
 
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