Party favors
Alameda County Dems consider pivotal endorsements; Supervisorial candidates quickly amass war chests; San Leandro vice mayor pick violates its own rules; Better halves back their elected loved ones
ELECTION 2024
62 days to Primary Day
ALAMEDA COUNTY DEMOCRATS
—PARTY FAVORS—Three big local primary races could be reshaped tonight by the imprimatur of the Alameda County Democratic Party.
—The Alameda County Democratic Central Committee will hold its endorsement meeting tonight in Oakland. Although nominations were received for several primary races, only these three will be contested tonight:
—Alameda County Board of Supervisors – District 4
Supervisor Nate Miley and Jennifer Esteen are the only candidates in the field. This race will be decided in the primary. There is no November runoff. Miley, the longtime incumbent, is hoping for the party’s endorsement, but the central committee tends to favor progressives. Esteen’s best outcome other than winning the endorsement is to block Miley from getting it. However, Esteen has shown a knack in the past for winning endorsements from groups energized by progressives.
—Alameda County Board of Supervisors – District 5
The party nominated five of the seven Democrats in the primary race to replace retiring Supervisor Keith Carson. (There are nine total candidates on the ballot, including Republican Gerald Pechenuk and Libertarian Chris Moore.) The Killer Bee’s—Ben Bartlett, Nikki Fortunato Bas, John Bauters, and Ken Berrick—will compete for the endorsement tonight, along with former Oakland mayoral candidate Greg Hodge. Due to the number of strong candidates and the fact this race only started three weeks ago, and has not sorted itself out, expect no endorsement.
—Alameda County Superior Court Judge – Office #12
Judicial contests are almost the definition of a “down ballot race.” Perhaps, more than any other, the party’s endorsement could loom very large in the lone Superior Court race that pits Michael Johnson against Mark Fickes. In the past, the central committee has viewed the need for electing more African American judges to be a compelling argument. Johnson is African American. Fickes may be known to some central committee members after running for Superior Court judge in 2020. Fickes is gay and the central committee has also sought to support this underserved constituency in past judicial races. So, this endorsement is up-for-grabs.
—BOARD OF ED SNUB—Alameda County Democrats declined to nominate incumbent Alameda County Board of Education Trustee Janevette Cole for the party’s endorsement. Instead, Lupe Angulo was the only nominated candidate in the field of three Democrats.
—The Area 5 seat is a proxy battle between charter school advocates aligned with Cole, and teachers unions backing Angulo. The third Democrat is Hayward school boardmember Joe Ramos.
CITY NEWS
OAKLAND
—STAND BY YOUR MAN/WOMAN—The pressure is definitely getting to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s office. Following the tragic killing of an Oakland police officer last week, suggestions on social media about her lack of a response to rising crime was swift and often brutal.
—Andre Jones, Thao’s partner, took to X last weekend to tussle with Seneca Scott, the local raconteur that is the mayor’s top critic and leader of her nascent recall campaign.
—It was an ill-advised move by Jones, who worked under Thao while both served in Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan’s office.
—On X, Jones belittled Scott’s performance in the 2022 Oakland mayoral election, and labeled him a “magnet for unstable individuals.”
—Perhaps, the holiday break led to some of these extracurriculars on social media?
—Similarly, a cartoon of Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley made its way around social media over the weekend depicting the long-time supervisor as a king.
—The cartoon featured unedited audio of Miley’s infamous speech last year in which he repeatedly uttered the word “bro” to a public speaker who initially referred to him as “bro.” Miley’s partner, however, was not amused. She called the cartoon racist on the Castro Valley Democratic Club’s Facebook page.
SAN LEANDRO
—ILLEGITIMATE VICE MAYOR?—San Leandro’s city council handbook prohibits its member from serving as vice mayor during the same year they are running for re-election. Two years ago, a dust-up between two councilmembers led to the change.
—Nevertheless, the San Leandro City Council named Councilmember Fred Simon as its next vice mayor even though he’s running for re-election to the District 4 seat in November.
—A referral asking city staff to reconsider the vice mayor provision is pending, but Councilmembers Bryan Azevedo, Victor Aguilar, and Simon, himself, supported the move, as did Mayor Juan Gonzalez.
—“It’s a slippery slope,” Councilmember Pete Ballew warned. Some city councilmembers are tough on rules when it comes to police, Ballew said, but not when it comes to others.
—GONZO PICK BLOCKED—The year’s first meeting was a tough one for San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzalez III, adding further proof that he’s slowly losing control of the council.
—Gonzalez yet again exchanged words with pro-Palestinian activists inside the chambers on Tuesday night. Gonzalez later shut down the meeting after repeated interruptions by activists, and reconvened behind closed doors.
—Earlier, councilmembers temporarily blocked Gonzalez’s appointment to the Oakland Airport-Community Noise Management Forum. The same group blocked Gonzalez from making a reappointment last month to the city’s Rent Board
—Aguilar, Azevedo, and Simon wanted to keep the current Noise Forum appointee, former San Leandro Councilmember Benny Lee.
—“I’m not quite sure what is going on here,” Gonzalez said. A motion tabling the appointment was approved by the council on Tuesday night.
BERKELEY
—FLAME BROILED—Berkeley’s first-in-the nation legislation banning natural gas-fired appliances in new buildings has officially flamed out.
—The 2020 ordinance was struck down by an appeals court in April after it found the legislation violated federal law that allow the U.S. government to set energy standards.
—A full federal appeals court refused to reorder a new hearing on Tuesday. Several East Bay cities have explored similar legislation, including Hayward.
ELECTION 2024
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - DISTRICT 5
—DISTRICT FIVE ON IT—The sprint to the March Primary in District 5 is on. After Supervisor Keith Carson announced his retirement on Dec. 8, candidates seeking his seat have quickly amassed war chests.
—Year-end fundraising reports will not be released for a few weeks, but Emeryville Councilmember John Bauters says he’s raised more than $100,000. Alameda County Board of Education Trustee Ken Berrick says he’s raised around $40,000.
—Through Form 497 filings for large contributions, we have thumbnails for how each of the top candidates fundraising efforts are heading. Below are reported contributions, as of Jan. 2:
John BAUTERS $73,500
Ben BARTLETT $38,000
Nikki BAS $36,000
Ken BERRICK $11,000
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—BANK NOTES—Nancy Skinner’s 2026 state treasurer campaign committee contributed to Nikki Fortunato Bas’ supervisorial campaign on Tuesday. Skinner has endorsed Bas for the District 5 seat.
—Alameda’s Measure E, a school district parcel tax on the March Primary ballot, reported $13,000 in contributions.
—MONEYBALL—Below is Form 497 campaign contributions filed on Jan. 2.
ALAMEDA COUNTY
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—Elisa Marquez (District 2), Fremont Firefighters Local 1689, $2,500. (Dec. 20).
—Nikki Fortunato Bas (District 5), Nancy Skinner for Treasurer 2026, $2,000 (Dec. 29); Steven Pitts of Oakland, $1,000 (Dec. 30); Alexander Tom of Oakland, $1,000 (Dec. 31). TOTAL: $4,000.
—Ben Bartlett (District 5), Benjamin Larson of Walnut Creek, $1,000, $1,000; Karl Soliman of Newport Beach, $2,500 (Dec. 31). TOTAL: $3,500.
—John Bauters (District 5), David E. Quan Agency Insurance Brokers, Inc., $2,500 (Dec. 29). TOTAL: $2,500
ALAMEDA
—Alameda Forward (Measure E - Alameda USD parcel tax), Alten Construction Inc., $5,000; Alameda High School PTSA, $5,000; Alameda Firefighters Association PAC, $1,000; Otis Elementary PTA, $1,000 (Dec. 29); Joe Ernst of Alameda, $1,000 (Jan. 1). TOTAL: $13,000.
OAKLAND
—Zac Unger (City Council, District 2), Fremont Firefighters Local 1689, $1,200. (Dec. 20).
STATE LEGISLATURE
STATE SENATE
—Jesse Arreguin (7th Senate District), California State Pipe Trades Council Political Action Fund/All Purpose Account, $10,900 (Dec. 31). TOTAL: $10,900.
—Dan Kalb (7th Senate District), Sara Scott of Mill Valley, $1,500; Dan Shugar of Pacifica, $1,000 (Dec. 29); Gary A. Kremen of Menlo Park, $1,001 (Dec. 30); Farideh Keshmiri of San Diego, $2,000; Payam Keshmiri Vista, $1,000 (Dec. 31). TOTAL: $6,501.
—Kathryn Lybarger (7th Senate District), ILWU Local 13 PAC Fund, $10,900 (Dec. 31). TOTAL: $10,900.
—Tim Grayson (9th Senate District), 21st Century Alliance Good Government PAC, $2,000; EdVoice for the Kids PAC, $2,000 (Dec. 29). TOTAL: $4,000.
—Marisol Rubio (9th Senate District), SEIU United Healthcare Workers West PAC, $5,500 (Dec. 30).
—Carlos Villapudua (5th Senate District), Autumn Burke for Lieutenant Governor 2026, $3,000; California Cattlemen's Association PAC, $2,000; Johnson & Johnson, $2,000; Concerned Americans for Responsible Government Sponsored by the California Trucking Association, $1,500. (Dec. 29) TOTAL: $8,500.
STATE ASSEMBLY
—Buffy Wicks (14th Assembly District), California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers PAC, $1,500 (Jan. 2) TOTAL: $1,500.
—Liz Ortega (20th Assembly District), San Francisco Labor Council Labor & Neighbor PAC, $1,500 (Dec. 29). TOTAL: $1,500.