San Francisco, California – Underneath a gold-leaf dome in downtown San Francisco, the standard procession of marriage ceremony events tiptoed out of Metropolis Corridor with freshly minted marriage licences.
However there was a rival line stretching down the steps for a distinct cause: Californians had arrived in droves to take part within the pivotal 2024 United States election.
This 12 months’s presidential race was wealthy with symbolism for the San Francisco Bay Space. One of many two main candidates, Democrat and Vice President Kamala Harris, considers the Bay Space dwelling.
She was born in close by Oakland. Raised in neighbouring Berkeley. And in San Francisco, she constructed a popularity as a prosecutor that noticed her rocket up the political ladder.
First, she was elected the town’s district lawyer, serving in Metropolis Corridor from 2002 to 2011, steps away from the legislation college the place she acquired her diploma.
Later, she grew to become the state’s lawyer normal after which its senator within the US Congress.
California is named a Democratic stronghold, a part of the “blue wall” of states that constantly vote for the occasion.
And because the most populous state within the nation, California boasts a whopping 54 Electoral School votes. Al Jazeera spoke to voters exterior Metropolis Corridor on Tuesday to grasp what was motivating their votes this election cycle.
Anjali Rimi, social service employee
Standing within the shadow of Metropolis Corridor’s towering 94-metre (307-foot) dome, Anjali Rimi hoped to encourage different voters to re-elect Democratic Mayor London Breed to a second time period in workplace.
However the wider normal election likewise weighed closely on Rimi’s thoughts.
“In any respect ranges — federal, state and the town of San Francisco — what’s at stake is democracy,” Rimi advised Al Jazeera.
“What’s at stake is the lives of immigrants. What’s at stake is the lives of minority-religion folks, like myself, or lots of my Muslim, Sikh, non-white, non-male, non-Christian of us who have to be protected on this nation.
“What’s at stake is the elemental rights of each human being on this world that generally we are inclined to not see proper right here in america of America. And therefore, this election is historic on so many fronts.”
Rimi’s phrases echoed critics’ considerations about Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate and former president recognized for nativist rhetoric.
When requested why sure voters within the US don’t see these elementary rights, Rimi was unequivocal.
“It’s important to give and attribute lots of that to white supremacy. It could not look white at all times, however privilege and people who have a place proceed to need to conquer and lead and brutalise this world, Rimi stated.
“Therefore, we don’t see the struggles of these which are on the margins — the many people who’ve come to this nation to make it our dwelling and are simply attempting to stay a contented and peaceable life with our households however nonetheless have a connection again to our homelands.”
She added that she hoped to “shield Black and girl management” this election cycle.
Melanie Mathewson, 26, political marketing consultant
The choice to finish the Supreme Courtroom precedent Roe v Wade in 2022 was a distinguished theme on this 12 months’s presidential race.
On one hand, former President Trump campaigned on how his selections whereas in workplace helped pave the way in which for the repeal of federal protections for abortion care.
“For 54 years, they have been attempting to get Roe v Wade terminated. And I did it,” he stated in January.
Against this, Harris has campaigned on restoring entry to reproductive healthcare. “When Congress passes a invoice to revive reproductive freedom nationwide, as president of america, I’ll proudly signal it into legislation,” she advised a marketing campaign rally earlier this 12 months.
That debate helped encourage Melanie Mathewson’s vote within the normal election.
“What’s driving me on a federal degree is girls’s rights,” she stated. “I might like to have youngsters at some point, and I need to be certain that, irrespective of the place I stay or the place they select to stay, they’ve entry to no matter healthcare that they want for his or her our bodies.”
She additionally gave a nod to the anti-transgender, anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric that has change into a frequent subject within the Trump marketing campaign.
“Whether or not I’ve youngsters who’re transgender or I’ve youngsters who’re homosexual, I need them to really feel snug and guarded irrespective of the place they stay on this nation, not simply in California,” Mathewson stated.
“I’m additionally very involved about my Black and Brown buddies and my buddies who’ve immigrant mother and father who will not be residents, who’re simply attempting to make their manner.”
Christian nationalism, she added, was serving to to form lots of Trump’s insurance policies.
“With the potential of Christian nationalism turning into the way in which that we rule our nation if Trump wins, I’m afraid that there’s not going to be freedom of faith, freedom over our our bodies,” she stated.
Maddie Dunn, 23, and Matt Fitzgerald, 28, campaigners
The shuttered storefronts that line downtown San Francisco have been high of thoughts for Maddie Dunn and Matt Fitzgerald, who hoped Election Day would deliver excellent news for small companies.
They hoped that poll initiatives in San Francisco would end in decrease taxes and allowing charges for native firms.
The town’s inhabitants plummeted by almost 65,000 residents in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and companies took a punch because of this.
“San Francisco’s had the slowest COVID restoration in North America,” Fitzgerald stated. “We’ve acquired lots of issues right here in our downtown, with empty workplace areas, closing small companies and issues like that.”
Dunn defined that her father was a small enterprise proprietor, and the downturn left her apprehensive.
“This is a matter that you could actually see each day: How effectively is your nook retailer doing? Or your espresso store? And in San Francisco, the reply is that companies are recovering, however they’re nonetheless struggling from decreased foot visitors, actually sluggish margins,” she stated.
Each she and Fitzgerald, nevertheless, indicated that they’d throw their help behind Harris, who has promised to spice up start-ups, regardless of scepticism from the best.
“She understands how vital small companies are to our communities. And along with her financial plan, when it comes all the way down to it, she has the approval of specialists,” Dunn stated.
Fitzgerald, for his half, warned that Trump represented a menace to US democracy, pointing to his actions on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the US Capitol.
“I feel the candidates couldn’t be extra totally different,” he stated. “I imply, you’ve one candidate, our former president, who actually tried to overthrow our democracy on January sixth, and you’ve got a candidate who’s pro-democracy, who’s pro-women’s rights and is pro-LGBTQ rights.”
This election, he added, shall be “an enormous fork within the street”.
Jennifer Fieber, 51, member of San Francisco Tenants Union
For many years, the San Francisco Bay Space has been within the grips of a housing disaster.
Housing costs are unaffordable for a lot of residents. Rental prices have ticked up. And a January 2024 report from the town authorities estimated that homelessness impacts at the very least 8,323 residents — a possible undercount. Greater than 20,000 sought help for homelessness over the course of a 12 months.
Jennifer Fieber, a member of the San Francisco Tenants Union, pointed to the disaster as the primary motivation for her vote. She indicated that she could be supporting progressive candidate Aaron Peskin in his race for mayor.
“Tenants are 64 % of the town,” Fieber stated. “I feel should you stabilise their housing, it has a profound impact on the working class and the power of individuals to stay within the metropolis. So we want candidates which are gonna shield tenants.”
She defined that top housing costs have been forcing important employees like nurses and academics out of the town.
When requested which candidates had put ahead platforms to handle the difficulty, Fieber responded: “Really, I feel that they’ve been ignoring it to their detriment.”
That features on the nationwide scale, she added. “I help the Democrats, however they don’t actually have a housing coverage.”
Joshua Kelly, 45, stay-at-home dad
For homemaker and stay-at-home dad Joshua Kelly, the roadway that strains San Francisco’s Pacific Coast was a motivation to get out the vote.
That four-lane street, referred to as the Nice Freeway, was closed in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, to permit for outside recreation. Residents like Kelly hope it stays closed, notably because the freeway faces the ravages of local weather change.
“Our plan [is] to show a coastal freeway that’s falling into the ocean right into a park and promenade for the entire metropolis,” Kelly stated.
He argued that the stakes are greater than simply the destiny of a street.
“What sort of a metropolis can we need to be? Can we need to be a metropolis that acknowledges and embraces local weather change and plans for it?” Kelly requested. “Or can we need to be a metropolis that prioritises polluting, climate-change-causing automotive journey and the comfort of that above all the things else?”
He credited outgoing President Joe Biden with taking some steps to handle the local weather disaster.
“Joe Biden was capable of, by means of the Inflation Reduction Act, create one of many largest items of local weather laws. And we’re seeing lots of renewable power come out of that,” Kelly defined.
However he warned that continued activism could be essential to hold the difficulty on the forefront of nationwide coverage, irrespective of the end result on Tuesday.
“I feel we’re a part of a coalition that’s going to place strain on Kamala Harris to do this if she is elected as effectively. And if Trump will get in, he’s going to push fossil fuels. He’s going to finish subsidies for renewable power. He’s going to ship us backwards.”
Kelly additionally feared the violence Trump would possibly spark if he refuses to simply accept a defeat at Harris’s arms.
“I’m involved in regards to the potential for violence,” Kelly stated. “If the election turns into kind of contested, there’s a good likelihood that the Home of Representatives and the Supreme Courtroom would conspire to present the election to Trump, regardless of him shedding the votes within the Electoral School.”
