Dems gone wild
IE supporting SD7 candidate gets $1.6m contribution; Alameda County Dems sidestep county supe endorsements; Judicial candidate says he voted for DA Price; Noel Gallo calls for state of emergency
ELECTION 2024
60 days to Primary Day
ALAMEDA COUNTY DEMOCRATS
—SOMETHING’S GOTTA CHANGE—If you read the newsletter with your morning coffee, swallow your hot beverage before you watch the highlights below from Wednesday night’s bonkers Alameda County Democratic Central Committee meeting.
—The unbelievable disorganization and sheer madness of the meeting may force you take a spit take.
—There’s a very lengthy list of people running for seats on this committee in the March Primary. Are you sure you want the job?
—NO ENDORSEMENTS—As expected, the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee offered “no endorsement” in both highly-contested supervisorial primary races.
—None of the nominated candidates in the contested District 4 race, including Supervisor Nate Miley and Jennifer Esteen; or the open District 5 race received the requisite 60 percent of voting members to win the party’s valuable endorsement.
—The no endorsement is a win for Esteen. Blocking the party endorsement of a long-time incumbent Democrat is no small feat.
—Meanwhile, few expected any of the four top candidates in the District 5 race to replace retiring Supervisor Keith Carson—John Bauters, Nikki Fortunato Bas, Ben Bartlett, and Ken Berrick—to cobble together enough votes to win the endorsement on Wednesday night.
—MILEY ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONED—There was a challenge earlier this week by some Alameda County Democrats as to whether Supervisor Nate Miley was ineligible for the party’s endorsement due to a previous contribution to Fremont Mayor Lily Mei.
—Mei is persona non grata to county Dems after the central committee deemed her conduct as a Fremont school boardmember to be anti-LGBT. The resolution also barred candidates seeking the party’s endorsement from contributing to Mei’s political campaigns.
—Miley donated $250 to Mei’s 2022 state Senate campaign.
—“I was not aware with the history with Lily Mei when I gave the donation,” Miley told county Dems on Wednesday. “Any form of discrimination is repugnant to me.”
—The central committee’s executive board ruled that Miley was eligible for the endorsement, citing “conflicting guidance” in the local party’s bylaws. For example, there is no remedy for someone found to have violated the bylaw.
—A similar bylaw does not allow candidates to participate in the endorsement process if they had received contributions from police unions. However, the candidate can regain eligibility if they return the contribution or donate it to worthy cause.
—PEOPLE’S COURT—A candidate for the lone Alameda County Superior Court race on the March ballot, may have violated judicial canon when he answered a question about who he voted for in the 2022 Alameda County district attorney race.
—Mark Fickes, a candidate for the judicial seat being vacated by retiring Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo, proudly answered Pamela Price.
—When the question was posed to Michael Johnson, also a candidate for judge, he declined to answer, citing judicial canon that prohibits judges from expressing political opinions.
—This case is particularly acute, Johnson added, because Price is currently under threat of a recall.
—Johnson’s response is not a cop out. If anything, the incident bolsters an argument that Superior Court judges should not be elected by the people. There are so many rules against judicial candidates expressing their opinions that it renders political campaigns a farce.
—PRICE OF DOING BUSINESS—Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price rewarded Superior Court judge candidate Mark Fickes for his fealty by voting to endorse him in the March Primary.
—Price is an elected member of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee and is seeking re-election in the March Primary.
—The vote to endorse Fickes and his proclamation on Wednesday that he voted for her in the 2022 DA’s race raises questions about each others impartiality.
—Any defense attorney in a courtroom with Fickes as judge and Alameda County prosecutors will certainly question whether their client will receive a fair trial.
—Conversely, Royl Roberts, a member of the central committee and Price’s chief assistant district attorney, voted no endorsement. The alternate for state Attorney General Rob Bonta did not vote on the judicial race.
—INSIDE THE NUMBERS—Although, Alameda County Democrats did not endorse any candidate for the two supervisorial races on the March Primary ballot, the raw totals reveal a more fulsome description of how they feel about each candidate. Here’s the main takeaways:
—Jennifer Esteen received more votes than incumbent Supervisor Nate Miley. The central committee leans heavily toward progressive candidates, so this is not entirely surprising.
—With a few more votes, Oakland Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas could have reached the 60 percent threshold to win the endorsement. A quick look at the votes suggest unions, such as the powerful SEIU Local 1021, held sway over many central committee members who backed Bas.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - DISTRICT 4
Jennifer ESTEEN 23 votes
Nate MILEY 19
No Endorsement 1
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - DISTRICT 5
Nikki BAS 22 votes
John BAUTERS 11
No Endorsement 4
Ben BARTLETT 2
Ken BERRICK 1
Greg HODGE 1
SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE - OFFICE #12
Mark FICKES 30 votes
Michael JOHNSON 8
No Endorsement 3
7TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT
—BIG MONEY. STOP!—The landscape in the competitive 7th State Senate District dramatically changed on Thursday.
—An independent expenditure committee supporting candidate Kathryn Lybarger reported an astonishing $1.6 million contribution from Lybarger’s old union, AFSCME Local 3299.
—Rumors of an extremely large contribution in support of Lybarger via local and state labor union was reported here two months ago.
—The IE, “UC Berkeley Cooks, Custodians and Nursing Assistants for Kathryn Lybarger for State Senate 2024,” is the second heavily financed committee backing Lybarger’s primary campaign.
—“East Bay Working Families for Kathryn Lybarger for State Senate 2024,” also sponsored by AFSCME Local 3299, reported a $100,000 contribution from the Standing Committee on Political Education of the California Labor Federation AFL-CIO three weeks ago, and $40,000 from Faculty For Our University's Future, A Committee Sponsored By The California Faculty Association.
—Candidate Jesse Arreguin has been the primary’s top fundraiser, but the flood of IE money supporting Lybarger easily dwarfs his haul.
PODCAST
—EPISODE 78—Catch up with the latest episode of the East Bay Insiders Podcast, featuring the year-end “Insidey Awards.”
—Subscribe and download the episode for free at Apple Podcasts or listen to the show by using the audio player below!
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—BANK NOTES—District 5 supervisorial candidate Chris Moore joined the money parade on Thursday. Moore reported a maxed-out $20,000 contribution to his campaign.
—Corrections: Ben Bartlett’s District 5 supervisorial campaign has publicly reported $50,000 in contributions. Chris Moore is registered as No Party Preference, not Libertarian Party as previously reported.
D5 PUBLICLY REPORTED CONTRIBUTIONS
John BAUTERS $73,500
Ken BERRICK $55,000
Ben BARTLETT $50,000
Nikki BAS $36,000
Chris MOORE $20,000
—MONEYBALL—Below is Form 497 campaign contributions filed on Jan. 4.
ALAMEDA COUNTY
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—Chris Moore (District 5), Madeline Moore of Walnut Creek, $20,000. TOTAL: $20,000.
—Ben Bartlett (District 5), Man Hao Chen of San Francisco, $5,000. TOTAL: $5,000.
STATE LEGISLATURE
STATE SENATE
—UC Berkeley Cooks, Custodians and Nursing Assistants for Kathryn Lybarger for State Senate 2024 (7th State Senate IE), AFSCME Local 3299, $1.6 million. TOTAL: $1,600,000.
—Jesse Arreguin (7th Senate District), Steamfitters Local 342 PAC, $5,400. TOTAL: $5,400.
—Tim Grayson (9th Senate District), H Cycle, LLC, $5,500 TOTAL: $5,500.
STATE ASSEMBLY
—Buffy Wicks (14th District), Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians, 2,500. TOTAL: $2,500.
CITY NEWS
OAKLAND
—BREAKING RANKS—Oakland Councilmember Noel Gallo is now calling for Mayor Sheng Thao to declare a public safety state of emergency, NBC Bay Area reports.
—Gallo believes the declaration could speed up the process for naming a new police chief. If not, a new set of candidates recommended by the city’s Police Commission could take until March to be delivered to Thao’s desk.
—Last fall, groups such as the Oakland NAACP strongly urged Thao to call a state of emergency. Thao resisted, then threatened to call one if the Police Commission didn’t quickly offer her a set of candidates.
—Thao rejected the Police Commission’s selections last week. The list included Leronne Armstrong, the police chief that Thao fired last February.
—While a state of emergency would allow Thao to quickly name a permanent police chief, doing so is fraught with danger on the political side. Making such a declaration is a clear admission that Oakland is unsafe and an indictment on her first year in office.
HAYWARD
—POLICE CHIEF NAMED—Meanwhile, Hayward filled its own vacant police chief position on Thursday.
—Bryan Mathews was named Hayward police chief on Thursday. He has served as acting police chief since September 2022. Matthews replaces Toney Chaplin, who retired last month.
—Matthews grew up in Hayward and has served the police department for the past 24 years.
