SF voters made clear yesterday, the old-guard of SF politics is out. Long-time politicians like Tom Ammiano and millionaire Angela Allioto and were handed a sound defeat in the 2003 race for the Mayor's office, as voters swept them aside in favor of two choices: right-wing anti-homeless candidate Gavin Newsom, and left-wing pro-tenant candidate Matt Gonzalez.

Former public defender Matt Gonzalez has risen quickly through the ranks of SF politics, where he now holds the city's second most important office, President of the Board of Supervisors. Now Matt, by far the most progressive candidate, is leading the charge for the left to take power in San Francisco.

While maintaining face in public, reports indicate that in private millionaire politician Gavin Newsom was stunned that he will be facing a far-left candidate from the Green Party. Newsom, Mayor Brown's handpicked successor, was unable to gather more than 50% of the vote, forcing a runoff election on December 9th.

With Matt taking second, the city of San Francisco is showing the polarized views of voters: the right-wing interests of rich anti-homeless business owners versus the progressive interests of the poor and working-class.

"We're going to win this race," Gonzalez said. "This is someone who has been running for two years and has spent more than $2 million. We have been in the race for 90 days and have spent maybe $100,000-150,000."

In the race for District Attorney, Terrance Hallinan gained the lead, but was unable to prevent a runoff. Hallinan is often criticized for lax prosecution of drug crimes.

Propositions H, L, and M all passed, improving police accountability at the Office of Citizen's Complaints, increasing SF's minimum wage to $8.25/hour, and banning aggressive panhandling.