\u201cIt is not easy taking on some of the wealthiest people in the world. It is not easy taking on the political establishment,\u201d Sanders said, addressing the union workers who brought Prop. 40 to the ballot. Over $80 million has been spent against the measure, more than double the contributions in support. Cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen has put $5 million into opposing the measure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not easy running a campaign where you\u2019re going to be greatly outspent. But that is what you are doing, and the entire country is proud,\u201d Sanders continued to raucous applause.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_0364.jpg\")
The crowd at the Curran Theater on Oct. 3 2026. Photo by Nicholas David.<\/p>\n
Two counter measures, propositions 41 and 42, would nullify Prop. 40, opening performer Mistah F.A.B. reminded the audience. That means a sequence of three votes necessary to enact the measure \u2014 Prop. 40 must pass, and Props. 41 and 42 must fail.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Campaign signs put that sequence in writing, and the Oakland rapper later instructed the crowd in verse: \u201cYes on Prop. 40, no on 41 and 42.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, as Sanders and others before him including Rep. Ro Khanna told the crowd, Prop. 40\u2019s presence alone is itself a matter of historic significance: \u201cIt\u2019s the first time in the history of the world that there is a billionaire tax on the ballot,\u201d Khanna said. \u201cThe whole world, the whole nation is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanders called Prop. 40 \u201cthe most important ballot initiative in the country, because it deals with the most important issue facing this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan the American people sustain democracy, take on the greed and power of the billionaire class and create an economy and government that works for all?\u201d he said. \u201cOr are we destined to live in an oligarchic society where our economic and political lives are controlled by a handful of the wealthiest people in the world?\u201d<\/p>\n
On the subject of Democratic Party leadership\u2019s opposition to the measure, \u201cI\u2019m just gonna speak bluntly,\u201d Khanna said. The union workers with United Healthcare West, which is leading the initiative, \u201care tired of Democratic politicians like Gavin Newsom,\u201d he went on, but his voice was drowned out by shouts, whistles and applause.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the fanfare quieted, he added that workers said they feel they\u2019ve been defied by party leadership.<\/p>\n
Longtime San Francisco politician and former supervisor Jane Kim, who is running for California insurance commissioner, also spoke at Saturday\u2019s rally. Kim worked on Sanders\u2019 campaign in 2020 and has received his endorsement in the race for insurance commissioner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kim\u2019s words Saturday rang more as a campaign speech, but her campaign is closely aligned with the campaign to pass Prop. 40. Many in the crowd wore red shirts and waved red campaign signs emblazoned with Kim\u2019s name. Her platform, too, shares concerns with those of Prop. 40\u2019s backers: if passed, many of the funds obtained by the measure would go toward health care.<\/p>\n
At Kim\u2019s description of healthcare providers \u201cdenying, delaying and underpaying our valid claims,\u201d one person in the crowd called out: \u201cViva Luigi!\u201d<\/p>\n
Those in the crowd laughed, hooted and clapped, but Kim gave no reaction. \u201cI am running to fight back,\u201d she continued on in her speech.<\/p>\n
Supervisor Connie Chan, who is running for Nancy Pelosi\u2019s seat in Congress, was also seen in attendance, though she did not speak.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/DSC_0461.jpg\")
Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ro Khanna and former Supe. Jane Kim raising arms onstage at the Curran Theater on Oct. 3 2026. Photo by Nicholas David.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a political rally in San Francisco Saturday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont brought hundreds of people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[26035,13,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-485130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-election-coverage","tag-politics","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}