105 - Election Reflection, with Councilmember-elect Katie Valenzuela (11.6.2020)

The 2020 general election is over, and no one feels 100% great as ballots are being counted throughout the nation.

Here in Sacramento, the people saw a win in defeating Mayor Darrell Steinberg's 'strong mayor' power grab. But they also suffered defeat at the hands of the deep-pocketed real estate industry in the fall of the Measure C rent control initiative.

Mai Vang is neck-and-neck against Pastor Les Simmons in Sacramento City Council's District 8 race, after Simmons threw a hail mary by taking tens of thousands of dollars from the real estate industry. Similarly, Democrat Gregg Fishman is a couple of points ahead of lifelong cop Rich Desmond in the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors' District 3 contest. These races may not be decided for weeks, but it appears that Councilmember Allen Warren may have underestimated his challenger Sean Lololee.

The people of California saw some serious defeats in state propositions, with both renters' and workers' rights taking a hit. We saw two big wins in prison reform, though the bail system will once again be instated. Bizarrely, the people of 'liberal' California shot down an attempt to reestablish affirmative action.

On the federal level, Democrats underperformed, losing seats in the House of Representatives and failing to capture a majority in the Senate (at least for now). We can take solace in Donald Trump leaving the White House in January. The downside?

Our next president is Joe fucking Biden.

Thanks for listening and, as always:

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