Cracks in the establishment
DA Price, entourage visited recall leader’s place of business. ‘I took it how it looked with her armed goons.’ Thao recall leader reacts to being called ‘losers’
ELECTION 2024
50 days to Primary Day
—In just the span of a week, the Democratic establishment in Alameda County has taken a beating. Perhaps it’s beginning to set in that Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price will be recalled and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is next?
—Couple that with a growing consensus that the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee is a raging dumpster fire, and its array of endorsed candidates have largely sat back and allowed the narrative surrounding public safety to be controlled by moderates and conservatives.
—There does not appear to be any response to rising crime in Oakland and the entire county. Voters sense it and they are seething.
—These are uncomfortable times for the establishment in Alameda County.
12TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
—ATTACKS ON STATUS QUO—Last week, Glenn Kaplan, a Democrat running to replace Rep. Barbara Lee in the 12th Congressional District harshly criticized Lee, detailing the congressmember’s inaction in the district.
—Kaplan gave voice to whispers often heard from city officials in Lee’s district, that over the years she is often missing in action.
—For others, the whispers are becoming shouts.
—Over the weekend, Jennifer Tran, another Democrat in the 12th District primary, called out the Alameda County Democratic Party for essentially colluding to back the candidacy of BART Boardmember Lateefah Simon in what should have been a hotly-contested primary to replace Lee in Congress.
—In a lengthy posting on X, Tran labeled Simon the “Defund the Police” candidate, and asserted state and local Democratic Party leaders handpicked Simon months before Lee announced she would run for U.S. Senate, instead of re-election in the 12th District.
—“In a region so steeped in public safety crisis, is the Democratic Party so out-of-touch and tone-deaf that they would attempt to force a Defund the Police candidate down the voters’ throats like this?” Tran wrote.
—“And they want the voters of Alameda County to vote for this Party-chosen candidate without ever seeing any of her policy positions or hearing her debate any of the other candidates.”
—It’s true that Simon has offered the bare-minimum when it comes to her positions. At several endorsement meetings over the past three months, Simon has repeatedly offered noticeably vague answers.
—In addition, few would have predicted over the years that the campaign to replace Lee in Congress would be waged without competition, as this primary has shown.
—It remains curious to many how Simon joined the race with an instant $300,000 in contributions. Furthermore, it always seemed odd that nobody else of note joined the primary.
THAO RECALL
—SCHOOLYARD BULLY—Last week, the chief of staff for Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao casted aspersions at the group seeking to recall the mayor. Leigh Hanson labeled them “losers.”
—Brenda Harbin-Forte, the retired Alameda County Superior Court judge leading the effort to recall Thao, chastised the mayor on Friday, saying, “Like a kid on the playground, she wants to do name-calling.”
PRICE RECALL
—JUSTICE IS NOT BLIND—Surveillance videos showed Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and her entourage last Wednesday walking around the leader of recall’s place of business.
—Brenda Grisham posted the surveillance videos on social media last week, along with stills showing Price and what appeared to be her bodyguards walking around the grounds in front of Grisham’s business.
—Grisham charged Price with making another attempt to intimidate her as the recall effort nears the signature verification process, perhaps within the next few weeks.
—“I took it how it looked with her armed goons,” Grisham wrote on X.
—Last fall, Grisham deemed a correspondence from Price to be an act of intimidation.
—Price’s campaign called Grisham’s assertion a fabrication over the weekend, and said Price was only in the area promoting her office’s push for combating human trafficking.
—“Sorry Brenda, not everything is about you,” Price’s campaign wrote on X.
—On Friday, Grisham tweaked Price in the video above that has been seen more than 40,000 times, joking if she didn’t pay her taxes, “Pamela Price might come after me because I didn’t pay my bill.”
14TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
—DELAYED RESPONSE—One of Rep. Eric Swalwell’s Republican opponents in the Tri-Valley and Fremont’s 14th District is calling him out for allegedly helping Hunter Biden avoid a congressional subpoena. It’s an incident that occurred exactly one month ago, but resurfaced last week.
—Vin Kruttiventi, the wealthy Pleasanton businessman running in the March 5 primary, said the latest incident involving Swalwell follows what he calls “questionable campaign finance practices” and an “association with an agent of a foreign government.”
—“His apparent thirst for media attention, even at the cost of ethical conduct, has raised alarms about his priorities and commitment to his constituents,” Kruttiventi said in a statement released on Friday afternoon.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - DISTRICT 5
—BAS PRO SHOP—Nikki Fortunato Bas’ campaign for the open District 5 seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has been relatively quiet of late. Bas’ campaign has also not kept up with her opponents when it comes to large contributions.
—But for Bas the money is not as important as the people backing her bid to replace retiring Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson.
—Bas is supported by the powerful SEIU Local 1021, which attempted unsuccessfully last year to snag the District 2 appointment on the Board of Supervisors.
—Their support comes with potential independent expenditure committee activity and boots on the ground..
—Expect labor and big name elected officials to raise Bas’ profile this week, according to insiders. Perhaps, the Bontas taking stage, along with state Sen. Nancy Skinner to vouch for Bas.
—ENDORSEMENTS—Last week, the Alameda County Firefighters Local 55 endorsed John Bauters for supervisor in District 5. County Fire’s support is one of the big gets in Alameda County politics.
—More importantly, Local 55 contributed $10,000 to Bauters’ campaign, along with another $10,000 to District 4 Supervisor Nate Miley’s re-election campaign.
D5 PUBLICLY REPORTED CONTRIBUTIONS
John BAUTERS $84,500
Ken BERRICK $55,000
Ben BARTLETT $52,000
Chris MOORE $52,000
Nikki BAS $41,000
Greg HODGE $11,000
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—MONEYBALL—Below is Form 497 campaign contributions filed on Jan. 12 through Jan. 14.
ALAMEDA COUNTY
—Loren Taylor for Democratic Central Committee AD 18 2024, (AC Dem Central Committee), Nate Miley for Supervisor 2024, $1,000. TOTAL: $1,000.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—Nate Miley (District 4), International Association of Firefighters Local 55 PAC, $10,000. TOTAL: $10,000.
—John Bauters (District 5), International Association of Firefighters Local 55 PAC, $10,000; Frank J. Mecca of Sacramento, $1,000. TOTAL: $11,000.
—Nikki Fortunato Bas (District 5), Sunbber Inc., $5,000. TOTAL: $5,000.
—Greg Hodge (District 5), Tony Iton of Alameda, $1,000. TOTAL: $1,000.
SUPERIOR COURT
—Michael Johnson (Office #12), Thomas R. Silva of Hayward, $1,000. TOTAL: $1,000.
STATE LEGISLATURE
STATE SENATE
—Jesse Arreguin (7th Senate District), California State Association of Electrical Workers Political Account, $10,900. TOTAL: $10,900.
—Jerry McNerney (5th Senate District), SEIU California State Council Small Contributor Committee, $10,900; California Machinists Non Partisan Political League, $1,000. TOTAL: $11,900.
—Carlos Villapudua (5th Senate District), California Association of Highway Patrolmen PAC, $9,400; Wine Institute California PAC, $2,500. TOTAL: $11,900.
STATE ASSEMBLY
—Buffy Wicks (14th Assembly District), Wine Institute California PAC, $2,500. TOTAL: $2,500.
