LOS ANGELES — San Francisco is so famous for its liberalism that the city has become shorthand for eccentric political sensibilities far to the left of most Americans. But after Tuesday’s trio of school board recalls, Democrats and Republicans alike see the city not as an outlier, but as a potential bellwether.
Residents voted overwhelmingly to unseat the three members for a litany of perceived offenses. Many were unique to the city, including an ill-considered effort to rename dozens of schools during the height of the pandemic and fiscal irresponsibility. But it was the foremost complaint of parents — the protracted school closures — that resonates far outside San Francisco and underscores Democrats’ precariousness as they head into the midterm elections.
The vote coincides with other signs of resistance to progressive orthodoxy: The Democratic mayor recently called for more funding to police crime-ridden neighborhoods, and another recall effort — against the city’s reformist district attorney — has qualified for the ballot. And while it’s difficult to draw conclusions from a single election, Democrats in California and across the nation described the recall as a cautionary tale that voters view their party as insufficiently responsive to core concerns like education and safety.
