East Bay IEs are back and they've started their spending sprees

Oakland City Council meeting stopped this afternoon after shooting in front of City Hall

A mailer sent in 2018 in opposition to Alameda County District Attorney candidate Pamela Price. IEs are already readying attacks in several races this fall, including Price’s current run for DA.

ELECTION 2022

Days until Election Day: 49. Days until ballots are mailed: 20.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE

—RETURN OF THE IEs—Voters, get ready for campaign phone calls, email, texts, and those pernicious mailers arriving shortly. In less than a week, a number of heavily-funded Independent Expenditure Committees have been created and fortified with cash. IE spending has already begun, particularly, in Oakland’s mayoral race, two of its city ballot measures, and competitive November runoffs for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and District Attorney races.

—“Working Families for a Better Oakland supporting Sheng Thao for Oakland Mayor 2022,” an IE backed by International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 55 PAC, and Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 104 PAC, has contributed a combined $120,000 in the past week.

—Over the weekend, the IE spent $50,000 on digital ads, $45,000 on polling, and $20,000 on political consulting. And here’s the early fruit of those expenditures, an digital ad in support of Sheng Thao:

—SUPE ENTERS TOWN RACE—Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert, who represents the Tri-Valley and Fremont, is weighing in on Oakland’s mayoral race, and on the side of candidate Ignacio De La Fuente. Haubert’s re-election committee contributed $10,000 to Citizens for a Sane and Responsible Oakland last weekend, an IE created last February, and sponsored by Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley.

—It is unclear if the IE will support De La Fuente’s mayoral campaign, but Miley has show support for the former Oakland councilmember in the past. More clearly in its intent, Haubert’s campaign contributed $5,000 to “Californians for Safer Streets Supporting Ignacio De La Fuente for Oakland Mayor 2022.”

—WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING—Big money continues to flow to a pair of Oakland ballot measures. Arthur Rock, the San Francisco philanthropist who most recently funded the successful recall campaign against three San Francisco school board members, contributed $200,000 this week to the campaign supporting Measure H, the Oakland Unified School District’s renewal of a $120 a year parcel tax…