Pamela Price volunteer was wearing her campaign t-shirt while allegedly involved in a shooting and robbery incident last week
AD20: Shawn Kumagai's campaign sent a mailer calling his opponent "extremely dangerous." IEs sent a similar message in SD10 against Aisha Wahab
ELECTION 2022
Days until Election Day: 4.
Ballots returned: Alameda County—17%. Santa Clara County—22%
ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
—BAD TIMING—Sometimes campaigns—and life in general—is about good and bad luck. On Thursday, just five days from Election Day, Pamela Price’s campaign for Alameda County District Attorney was rocked by a report that one of her campaign volunteers is a suspect in a shooting and robbery that occurred in Oakland last week. KTVU first reported the link on Thursday.
—It gets worse for Price’s criminal justice reform-minded campaign when a photo emerged of the volunteer at the scene of the crime wearing a Price for DA campaign shirt.
—The campaign volunteer had been previously convicted for murder, and acquitted after a second trial, according to KTVU.
—Throughout this November runoff campaign, her opponent, Terry Wiley, has repeatedly asserted that Price’s brand of criminal justice reform will make county residents unsafe. It’s same rhetorical device that was used by successfully by opponents of now-recalled San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. This late-campaign story does nothing but highlight Wiley’s case.
—The report led Price’s campaign to issue a statement on Thursday. Price said she was unaware of the incident involving her volunteer until hearing about it yesterday on social media.
—ATTACK WEBSITE FOR PRICE—Oakland businessman and political insider Mario Juarez must have gotten good deal for web design services. As reported yesterday, Juarez’s IE, ‘California Forward Now,” paid for a website that brutally attacks long-time rival, Oakland mayoral candidate Ignacio De La Fuente. In addition, a much more tame website attacking Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor was also funded by Juarez.
—But Juarez has another site that was released into the East Bay’s political wilderness on Thursday. This one for Alameda County District Attorney candidate Pamela Price.
—BadPam.com labels Price an electoral “loser” who will “turn her back on crime in Alameda County.”
ALAMEDA COUNTY DA PREVIEW
—PRICED-OUT—When I penned the electoral outlook for this race just after the June primary, the voting patterns across Alameda County indicated that Price’s first-place finish was greatly fueled by strong support in Oakland, Berkeley, and surrounding areas. Her 16-point advantage over runoff opponent Terry Wiley was also boosted by primary candidate Jimmie Wilson’s inclusion in the race. Wiley and Wilson shared very similar attributes. They both serve as long-time Alameda County prosecutors, were well-funded, and their platforms aimed to straddle the line between law-and-order and reform at the DA’s office.
—If you assume a Wilson primary voters (notably Wilson did not endorse in this fall’s campaign) are inclined to gravitate toward Wiley’s fall campaign, rather than Price’s, then the numbers suggest a tight race on Nov. 8. But what has happened since the early post-primary days is unclear, at least, on Price’s part.
—There are some insiders who believe Price’s strategy at the beginning of this campaign was to shove all her chips on winning the June primary outright with 50 percent plus one of the vote. When that didn’t happen—she finished eight points short of a majority—the campaign ran out of gas, so goes the theory.
—This could be true. Price’s fundraising numbers since June 30 have been poor. Price raised $170,000 since the mid-year, as opposed to Wiley’s whopping $464,000. Help for Price through IEs were expected, but never materialized. For example, George Soros, the noted liberal financier who contributed to an IE in supporting Price during her 2018 for Alameda County DA, stayed out of the fray this time.
—The key for Price in the fall was to expand her support outside of the most liberal areas of Alameda County. It’s very unclear whether she’s done that. There’s no discernible tweak in her message for suburban voters who are very much likely to be greatly concerned about crime. But give Price credit. She sticks to her convictions and continues to be that “drum major for justice,” even if it’s now off beat.
—Meanwhile, Wiley has deftly played off concerns about crime, while suggesting Price’s proposed policies will make Alameda County less safe. If Wiley is able to erase the 16-point disadvantage from the primary the reason will be his ability in this campaign to project strength and a vow to protect residents, while sounded reasonably about much-needed reform.
—In the end, Alameda County generally agree with Price’s zeal for reforming the criminal justice system. Even in one of the most progressive counties in the country, unfortunately for Price, this currently is not the political environment for a campaign like hers.
OAKLAND MAYOR
—The “Stop Ignacio” and “Taylor Fraud” websites mentioned above also have companion mailers. The mailer paid for by California Forward Now again describes Ignacio De La Fuente as corrupt. A separate mailer features Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, mayoral candidate Loren Taylor, and De La Fuente, and calls them “Oakland’s Biggest Polluters.” There does not appear to be a mailer that goes with the website attacking DA candidate Pamela Price that is also funded by California Forward Now.
10TH STATE SENATE/20TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
—GOING FOR BROKE—The temperature in the East Bay’s Dem-on-Dem legislative races is rising, especially in the 20th Assembly District race between Liz Ortega-Toro and Shawn Kumagai.
—Kumagai’s campaign raised eyebrows on Thursday after sending voters a mailer that asserts that Ortega-Toro supports defunding the police. The ad also depicts scissors moving toward cutting off the head of a Black police officer.
—But there’s more: the flip-side of the mailer features a Latino family with a declaration that Ortega-Toro is too extreme. “Defund the Police?” The ads says. “Extreme Liz Ortega is extremely dangerous.”
—Kumagai’s campaign is attempting to link Ortega-Toro to the defund movement merely because she attended a press conference in support of the proposal made by some Oakland councilmembers. As head of the Alameda Labor Council, Ortega-Toro has never cast a vote for defunding the police.
—During this campaign season Kumagai had sidestepped blame after a spate of negative mailers were sent out by IEs that focused on Ortega-Toro’s past financial trouble. The big push by Kumagai led to another round of similar mailers from his campaign on Friday.
—DANGER IS NOT HER MIDDLE NAME—Good news for Aisha Wahab in the 10th State Senate District. If Liz Ortega-Toro is “extremely dangerous,” then Wahab is just simply “dangerous,” according to a mailer from an IE supporting her opponent Lily Mei.
—Mailers this fall portraying or strongly suggesting minority candidates are “dangerous” have been seen in other races in the Bay Area and nationally. Last month, Mei’s campaign sent a mailer that appeared to darken Wahab’s skin while portraying her as against law enforcement.
PODCAST
—LIVE SHOW TODAY—Listen to the East Bay Insiders Live Election Preview Show today on Twitter Spaces at 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit twitter.com/eastbaycitizen and click on the link to join the Space. Shawn Wilson and I will give our take on all the big races, and possibly bring on some special guests.
—If you miss today’s live show. Don’t worry. It will be posted soon after as Episode 55 of the East Bay Insider Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts and wherever you download your podcasts.