100 days until Primary Day

The races to watch in the East Bay's March Primary

ELECTION 2024

100 DAYS UNTIL PRIMARY DAY

—ON YOUR MARK—If it feels like we did this mad rush to the final three months of an election campaign not too long ago, then you have a good memory. We did it about a year ago. But with the presidential year election in 2024, California’s primary is moved up every other two-year cycle to March.

—It might be a good reason why voters and even some campaigns appear to running on low batt in the run up to the final stretch to the primary.

—There have been candidate forums in some of the big March races, but very few attempts by the candidates to truly differentiate themselves from the pack.

—Most of this year has been about raising money, sorting out labor union support, and determining how much Independent Expenditure Committees will spend in each race.

—Here’s a few things to watch for in the East Bay’s most important March primary races:

STATE SENATE

—7TH DISTRICT—There are three open East Bay state Senate seats up for grabs in 2024, but just one can be considered an Alameda County-controlled seat—the 7th State Senate District seat held by termed out state Sen. Nancy Skinner.

—SD7 appears destined to be one of the most expensive races in the state next year. It’s a likely Dem-on-Dem contest in November 2024 that has labor not exactly split between California Labor Federation President Kathryn Lybarger and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, but clearly not unified.

—As we come closer to the new year (remember vote-by-mail ballot will arrive during the first week of February), keep an eye on IEs backed by AFSCME Local 3299. That’s Lybarger’s old union. In 2022, the union’s IE spent millions to help Liz Ortega and Aisha Wahab win seats in the state Legislature and most expect similar expenditures on behalf of Lybarger this time around.

MORE PRIMARY RACES TO WATCH INSIDE:

• 9th State Senate District

• 5th State Senate District

• Alameda County Board of Supervisors

• Recall questions

• U.S. Senate

• 12th Congressional District