IE backed by Uber and supporting Lily Mei emerges. Mailer highlights Ro Khanna’s endorsement of Mei
End of Oakland PD federal oversight is near, DA candidate’s connection to the Riders case that triggered oversight
ELECTION 2022
10TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT
—MEI DAY—An Independent Expenditure (IE) Committee primarily backed by Uber and insurance agents revealed its support on Friday for 10th State Senate District candidate Lily Mei.
—The IE, “Keeping Californians Working, a Coalition of Insurance Agents, Technology, Energy, and Health Care Providers,” sent district voters a mailer on Friday that supports Mei’s campaign and prominently features Fremont and South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna.
—The existence of the IE was known, but its efforts until this Wednesday had been focused on David Alvarez, a Democrat in San Diego’s 80th Assembly District runoff to replace Lorena Gonzalez. Evidence of the IE supporting Mei’s campaign did not appear on the IE’s most recent campaign finance reports through April 23.
—On Wednesday, the IE reported spending $68,574 on the mailer that district voters will receive this weekend. In addition, $3,625 was spent on research, along with $1,500 for consulting, according to a campaign finance report.
—Predictions of the 10th State Senate race being an historicalLu expensive race, especially between two Democrats, are coming to fruition. Mei and candidate Aisha Wahab have collectively raised a total of $1.1 million since last summer. But the big money will come from IEs, which can raise unlimited amounts of money, but are prohibited from coordinating their efforts with the candidate’s campaigns.
“Keeping Californians Working” isn’t the only IE in this 10th State Senate race. Last month, AFSCME Local 3299 seeded an IE with $500,000 in support of Wahab’s campaign. Furthermore, the emergence of the IE in support of Mei is likely to be this race’s first big contour, and one that could last past the June and on to November, if both advance in the top two primary.
—The IEs main ambition is to support candidates that maintain that gig workers employed by companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Doordash, be classified as independent contractors and not regular employees, which is more costly to the tech giants.
—“Keeping Californians Working,” reported $891,000 in cash on hand, through April 23, and raised $375,000 this year, including $250,000 from Uber. Potentially more problematic for Mei is that Chevron contributed $10,000 to the IE. The California Apartment Association, which has contributed this week to Mei’s campaign, also added $15,000 to the IE.
—But the big issue that arises from this mailer is the presence of Khanna and how it could rekindle calls by Alameda County Democratic Party leaders and progressives to formally admonish Khanna for his support of Mei.
—Last fall, the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee nearly unanimously voted to find Mei anti-LGBT after a series of votes she made while serving on the Fremont school board and actions as a Fremont councilmember and mayor. County Democrats also found her unrepentant. Mei’s current campaign tagline is “people over politics,” a clear reference to the Alameda County Democratic Party’s sanctions against her.
—Despite the rancor, Khanna maintained his endorsement of Mei, which is now the subject of the IE’s first mailer. Khanna’s steadfast endorsement continues to be curious since the next generation Berniecrat persona he has carefully cultivated nationwide is polar opposite to the moderate Democrat that describes most of Mei’s political career.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE ROUNDUP
—MONEYBALL—Here’s the rest of the late Form 497 Large Contributions from Thursday and Friday:
[Program note: Starting Monday, look for a full analysis of campaign finance reports for all the East Bay’s primary campaigns. The week after, June Primary Previews will begin, along with weekly editions of the East Bay Insiders podcast for the entire month of May!]
Terry Wiley, Alameda County District Attorney, CASS, Inc., $5,000; Phil Tagami of Oakland, $3,900; Rebecca Warren of San Francisco, $1,000; Stacie Pettigrew of Hayward, 1,000;
Pamela Price, Alameda County District Attorney, Mara Schechter of Oakland, $1,000.
Alameda Forward- Yes on B 2022, Alameda USD ballot measure, Franklin Elementary School PTA, $1,500; Michael Bell of Alameda, $1,000.
Shawn Kumagai, 20th Assembly District, Lighthouse Public Affairs, $1,000.
Jennifer Esteen, 20th Assembly District, Service Employees International Union Local 99 Candidate PAC, $2,000.
Lan Diep, 24th Assembly District, Philip Morris USA Inc. and its Affiliates, $1,500.
Teresa Keng, 24th Assembly District, Valuable C Investment Liability Company, $1,000.
CITY NEWS
OAKLAND
—THE END IS NEAR—Federal oversight of the Oakland Police Department is nearing its conclusion after nearly 20 years. Earlier this year, the federal monitor indicated OPD was close to completing all of its prescribed reforms. The department will soon enter a one-year period in which it must prove to the federal monitor that the reforms will stick.
—Following the notorious Riders case from the early 2000s, in which Oakland police officers were found to have planted evidence and brutally beaten residents, OPD had long resisted reforms required to escape federal oversight, which is why oversight has lasted this long.
—Its likely conclusion this year could be a feather in the cap of outgoing Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, although, critics will argue its took the entirety of her two terms in office to accomplish.
ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
—WILEY AND RIDERS—With OPD’s federal oversight nearing its end, the connection between the prosecution of the Riders case and this year’s contentious campaign for the Alameda County District Attorney has not been fleshed out much during the June primary.
—Candidate Terry Wiley, serving as deputy district attorney in the early 2000s prosecuted the retrial of the Oakland police officers implicated in the case, but he did not win a successfully prosecution.
—Over the course of this primary campaign, Wiley periodically mentions his involvement in the case when responding to questions about police accountability. But more often than not, it’s Wiley’s opponent—civil rights attorney Pamela Price—who mocks him for not winning a conviction.
D.C. DISH
—KHANNACOIN—Rep. Ro Khanna introduced legislation this week to allow cryptocurrencies to be regulated as commodities like gold and silver, and not as a financial instrument. The bill would give regulatory power over cryptocurrencies to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which currently regulates major cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum.
—TWITTER TITTER—The conservative website, The Federalist, compiled 100 “facts” that an Elon Musk-owned Twitter should allow to be tweeted. Among them is No. 97: “Rep. Eric Swalwell hasn’t denied sleeping with a Chinese spy.” It’s true that Swalwell has never confirmed or denied a romantic dalliance with Fang Fang, the alleged Chinese spy. Swalwell sidestepped the question and said the FBI found he did nothing illegal. But a romantic interlude in Lafayette with a woman is not illegal. One theory is Swalwell’s reluctance to publicly answer the question could be because he told FBI investigators around 2015 that he did not have a sexual relationship with Fang.