Be on the lookout for candidates asking for $20,000 donations!
Nancy Skinner wants state legislators to get on the bus with her school bill
—MAKE IT RAIN—State legislative campaigns and Oakland mayoral races require huge fundraising efforts. Same with countywide and Board of Supervisors races. You probably need at least $1 million to run for the state senate and assembly. A minimum of $500,000 to run for Oakland mayor, and somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000 to run for a contested countywide seat. Most of these offices have a maximum cap on donations. For example, legislative contributors max out after giving $4,900 per election cycle.
—But Alameda County Board of Supervisors races are unique. Their cap is an exorbitant $20,000, which in many cases is so high that it amounts to no cap at all. In addition, rather than helping fuel upstart challengers, the cap has mostly done the opposite, helping supervisors further pad their campaign coffers.
—The story behind the $20,000 county maximum goes back a decade to Bill Lockyer funding his wife, Nadia Lockyer’s, campaign for Alameda County supervisor in 2010. Bill Lockyer used almost $2 million of his own state treasurer campaign funds to seed Nadia Lockyer’s run for the seat left open by Supervisor Gail Steele’s retirement. Bill Lockyer’s expenditure was shocking then and the amount might be shocking even today.
—After Election Day 2010, a resolution was passed by former Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty to place a $20,000 limit on contributions made by individuals and campaign committees. Previously there was no limit. Haggerty said then the resolution would “prevent a person or committee from having undue influence in a County election.” The move was a middle finger to the Lockyers. But because of the institutional longevity at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the $20,000 maximum has really only come into play twice, perhaps three times, over the past 12 years. Supervisor Nate Miley’s successful re-election in 2016 against the well-funded Bryan Parker, and the race won by David Haubert to replace the retiring Haggerty in 2020.
—The 2022 campaign for Wilma Chan’s District 3 could be far different. Parker’s 2016 campaign leaned heavily on the candidate’s friends in the corporate world, many of which had no connection to the East Bay. In addition, Haubert’s money was backed in many cases by developers, but his November opponent, Vinnie Bacon, chose not to align himself with groups that had $20,000 lying around to donate.
—This year’s June primary may feature multiple top-tier candidates with the potential to swim in seas of campaign cash. Oakland At-Large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, by way of representing the largest city in the county, will likely have access to many potential $20,000 donors. Alameda Councilmember Malia Vella, who is seriously contemplating a run for District 3 supervisor, is a darling of labor unions. Absent another candidate in the race with as much labor cred as Vella, $20,000 donation will likely flow to her campaign. Put the two campaigns together, and possibly others, and we’ve got a potential money bomb not only in June, but potentially a November runoff, for one of the most sought-after offices in Alameda County.
COUNTY NOTES
—IN MEMORY OF—Tuesday’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting was adjourned in memory of Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy cadet David Nguyen, who was shot and killed Jan. 3 while driving on Interstate 580 near the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza. Alameda County Undersheriff Richard Lucia said Tuesday that Nguyen will posthumously graduate with his class.
—NO SMOKING—Alameda County Board of Supervisor unanimously approved a second and final reading of the unincorporated county residential smoking ban .
—LOST IN TRANSLATION—Questions about how the county provides Spanish-speaking translation at its meetings were brought to the board’s attention on Tuesday. The county offers translation services, but they must be requested beforehand. Such barriers make it difficult for non-English-speaking residents to participate in public meetings, said a county resident during public comment. The speaker asked the county to emulate the Hayward Unified School District’s successful use of translation services on Zoom, which has greatly increased participation at public meetings by Hayward’s large Latino population.
—APPOINTMENTS—Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson appointed Jason Toro, former San Leandro school board member and wife of 20th Assembly District candidate Liz Ortega-Toro, to the Care First, Jails Last Task Force. Carson also appointed Chris Iglesias to a two-year term on the once-influential Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority… Supervisor Nate Miley reappointed Dale Silva to the Fairview Municipal Advisory Council, and reappointed April Chan to the Fairview Municipal Advisory Council.
ELECTION 2022 UPDATE
—VALLE CON DIOS—It’s very likely Alameda County District 1 Supervisor Richard Valle will run unopposed this June. Valle represents Hayward, the Tri-Cities, and portions of Fremont. But if anybody is crazy enough to challenge his re-election, be aware he already has a prohibitive fundraising advantage. Valle’s year-end campaign finance numbers were released on Tuesday. They show Valle’s campaign already has $121,281 in the bank. The filing is larded mostly with labor union donations, but also from donors that many East Bay progressives tend to loathe like Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley and the Dutra family, who are influential Tri-Cities developers. On the other hand, Valle doesn’t seem too worried about his re-election. He gave $4,900 to the 20th Assembly District campaign of Liz Ortega-Toro on Dec. 29 and a $500 tribute to 18th District Assemblymember Mia Bonta last August.
—NEW TO THE PARTY—The 20th Assembly District race just got its first Republican candidate. Joseph Grcar joins Democrats Ortega-Toro, Shawn Kumagai, Jennifer Esteen, and Shay Franco-Clausen. Grcar previously challenged 20th District Assemblymember Bill Quirk in the 2018 June primary as a write-in candidate and advanced to the November General Election.
CAPITOL DISPATCH
—GET ON THE BUS—State Sen. Nancy Skinner introduced legislation on Tuesday that will “ensure that not having a ride is never again the reason for a child to miss school.” Skinner’s bill aims to increase funding for public schools to better maintain their fleet of buses and allow school districts to expand their services. The legislation not only will reduce truancy, but also combat climate change, Skinner said. A funding source for the bill is unclear.
—SLIGHT—Republican Sacramento District Attorney Ann Marie Schubert, the candidate viewed as one of state Attorney General Rob Bonta’s most viable challengers this June. But Schubert, who is lesbian, was passed over for an endorsement from the LGBT rights group, Equality California. The group, instead, endorsed Bonta. Equality California said Schubert’s campaign ignored them… Another Republican in the field, Nathan Hochman, a former assistant U.S. attorney from Southern California, is being represented by noted East Bay Republican consultant Matt Shupe.
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