Oakland Mayor: Ignacio De La Fuente is making his big move and Big Coal is behind it

Coal backers pump additional $310,000 into effort to get IDLF elected Oakland mayor; Former San Leandro mayor got his Latinos confused. Plus, daily campaign finance data

Ignacio De La Fuente speaking with a reporter following a Oakland mayoral candidate forum last month. PHOTO/Steve Tavares

ELECTION 2022

Days until Election Day: 28.

OAKLAND MAYOR/CITY COUNCIL

—NACHO LIBRE—There’s been a sinking feeling in Oakland’s mayoral race, which has largely failed to gain the public’s imagination, that Ignacio De La Fuente’s campaign was lurking with the cash to make a serious bid for the mayor’s office.

—Well-funded backers of Ignacio De La Fuente’s campaign made their big move on Tuesday, pumping a total of $310,000 into the Independent Expenditure Committee backing the former councilmember’s campaign.

—Southern California financier Jonathan Brooks contributed $250,000 to “Californians for Safer Streets Supporting Ignacio De La Fuente for Mayor of Oakland 2022,” according to finance report filed on Tuesday. Brooks’ interest in Oakland is tied to his company JMB Capital and its rights to operate the proposed Oakland coal terminal.

—In addition, Phil Tagami’s Oakland Bulk & Oversized Terminal LLC added another $50,000 to the pot. Allan Boscacci also contributed $10,000 to the IE. All three donors have contributed to the IE in the past.

—Through the Sept. 24 campaign finance filing period, the IE had raised $115,500. That includes $50,000 contributions from both Brooks and Tagami. The IE has spent $74,000 through Sept. 24, and raised an additional $56,000 since Sept. 29, according to finance records.

—OAKLAND POA IN D4—The Oakland Police Officer’s Association isn’t buying Oakland City Council District 4 candidate Janani Ramachandran’s newfound support of police officers. The police union’s PAC paid $15,000 for a brochure supporting Ramachandran’s opponent, Oakland small business owner Neena Joiner.

—Ramachandran cut her political chops in last year’s 18th Assembly District special election as an adherent of the “Defund the Police” movement. In this city council race, her stance has changed. She now believes OPD needs more officers on the streets.

SAN LEANDRO MAYOR

San Leandro mayoral candidate Juan Gonzalez, not Juan Martinez.

—NO BUENO—Former San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy has hitched his wagon to Juan Gonzalez’s upstart mayoral campaign for some time. In fact, veteran San Leandro political watchers see Gonzalez, who has never run for public office, as a Cassidy clone. Both began as political outsiders, both promote centrist views for the city, and both fail to check off the warm and fuzzy box.

—But, perhaps Cassidy doesn’t know Gonzalez as much as everyone thinks? In a blog posting on Monday penned by Cassidy in support of Gonzalez’s campaign, the headline refers to the mayoral candidate as Juan Martinez. The error persisted for much of yesterday before being corrected.

—On the ground, the San Leandro mayoral race remains anybody’s to win. All three candidates—also including Bryan Azevedo and Lee Thomas—are evenly matched. At this point, every indicator suggests the eventual third-place finisher, through ranked-choice voting, will determine who is San Leandro’s next mayor.

LIVERMORE MAYOR

—NEW CHAMP—Last month, an Alameda group formed an Independent Expenditure Committee with a super-long name. A group in Livermore supporting mayoral candidate Mony Nop and opposing several others said, “hold my beer.”

—Formed on Tuesday, the IE is named “Take Back Livermore. Supporting Nop & Opposing Marchand for Livermore Mayor 2022. Supporting Barrientos (District 2) & Wahrer (District 1) & Opposing Chiong (District 2) & Branning (District 1) for Livermore City Council 2022.”

—At this point, it’s unclear who is funding Take Back Livermore, but the IE already reported three expenditures on Tuesday—newspaper ads and mailers that cost a total of $5,551 each in support of Nop for mayor, and council candidates Ben Barrientos and Carol Wahrer.

—The IE comes on the heels of another IE recently pumping a total of $100,000 in support of Nop’s bid for mayor over former Livermore Mayor John Marchand.