Primary Election Weekend Special
Before portraying her campaign for CA14 as a bulwark against Trump, Melissa Hernandez opposed Dublin becoming a sanctuary city, and instead placed trust in then-ALCO Sheriff Greg Ahern
☕️WEEKEND BUZZ
Vol. VI, No. 1,279
ELECTION 2026
🗓️2 days to June Primary
—From the moment President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, immigration enforcement became a centerpiece of his administration, creating widespread fear in immigrant communities nationwide, including in Alameda County.
Within days of his inauguration, Trump signed executive orders expanding immigration enforcement, broadening deportation priorities, and increasing the role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Later that month, his administration issued a controversial travel ban targeting several predominantly Muslim countries, triggering protests across the country.
As concerns mounted, cities throughout Alameda County moved to strengthen or create new sanctuary policies to reassure immigrant residents.
Dublin was not among them.
At the time, Dublin Councilmember Melissa Hernandez, then known as Melissa Strah, opposed efforts to declare the city a sanctuary for immigrants.
Instead, Hernandez and then-Dublin Mayor David Haubert expressed confidence in Republican Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern’s immigration policies.
“I believe the Alameda County sheriff’s office general order. I read it and I also feel the general order is in line with federal law,” Hernandez said during the discussion in March 2017. She added that the sheriff’s office appeared to “have everything in order.”
The general order she referenced prohibited Ahern from honoring ICE detainer requests that would extend an inmate’s detention beyond their release date.
However, the policy still allowed the department to provide inmate release notifications to ICE, a practice that drew strong criticism from immigrant-rights advocates.
Ahern faced scrutiny after it was revealed the Sheriff’s Office continued providing release notifications to ICE under the policy, despite ending cooperation with immigration detainers.
Fast forward to today, Hernandez has sought to position herself as a leading opponent of Trump’s policies in her campaign for the 14th Congressional District seat.
A series of mailers funded by a SuperPAC have also portrayed her as a candidate who will stand up to Trump and protect immigrant families.
During the same 2017 council discussion, Haubert, now an Alameda County supervisor, rejected the idea of pursuing sanctuary city status.
“Law and order and protecting the police are very important to me,” Haubert said. “I see no need to pursue what we call “sanctuary city.”
Speaking immediately afterward, Hernandez added, “I agree with you.”
—GET THE 411 ON THE 510—
IT’S WHAT THE INSIDERS READ.
🆕CLICK HERE FOR NOVEMBER CANDIDATE LIST
🗳️Early Ballots Returned
CA14: 53,551 of 422,026 (13%)
SD10: 68,829 of 530,876 (13%)
Alameda County: 116,939 of 970,060 (13%)
Santa Clara County: 159,965 of 1,074,631 (15%)
Statewide: 3,360,254 of 23,133,028 (15%)
Source: PDI.
VOTER TURNOUT
—SEND IN YOUR BALLOT—As of Saturday, 13 percent of Alameda County voters had returned their primary election ballots.
—Statewide, about 15 percent of the more than 23 million ballots mailed to voters have been returned, putting Alameda County roughly in line with the statewide pace.
—Turnout in non-presidential primary elections is typically low, with the electorate often dominated by high-propensity and more ideologically engaged voters.
—According to Political Data, Inc., Alameda County’s ballot return rate is only about one percentage point behind where it stood at the same point in the June 2022 primary election.
—Alameda County voter turnout in non-presidential primaries since 2006:
June 2022: 32.88%
June 2018: 39.73%
June 2014: 25.77%
June 2010: 35.30%
June 2006: 39.09%
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—💰MONEYBALL—Form 497 large campaign contributions, and Form 6 federal 48-hour notices of contributions filed on May 29-30:
ALAMEDA COUNTY
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - DISTRICT 3
—Re-Elect Supervisor Lena Tam, IUPAT Political Action Together Legislative Education Committee, $2,000. TOTAL: $2,000.
SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE - OFFICE #13
—Cabral Bonner For Alameda County Judge 2026, Bonner Law PC, $5,000. TOTAL: $5,000.
SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE - OFFICE #19
—Patricia Miles for Judge 2026, California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges & Hearing Officers In State Employment PAC, $5,000. TOTAL: $5,000.
OAKLAND - MEASURE E PARCEL TAX
—Neighbors For An Affordable Oakland, Sponsored by Realtors - No on Measure E, National Association of Realtors, $100,000; California Association of Realtors Issues Mobilization PAC, $6,000. TOTAL: $106,000.
—Committee to Protect our Neighborhoods, sponsored by Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action (Supporting Measure E), East Bay Community Foundation, $10,000. TOTAL: $10,000.
STATE LEGISLATURE
STATE SENATE
—Anne Kepner for State Senate 2026, SEIU United Healthcare Workers West PAC, $11,800; Cotchett, Pitre & Mc Carthy, LLP, $7,500; Women’s Political Committee State, $5,000; American Association of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture PAC, $1,000. TOTAL: $25,300.
—Nurses and Working Families for Kepner for State Senate 2026 Sponsored by Labor Organizations, United Domestic Workers of America Independent Expenditure PAC, $20,000. TOTAL: $20,000.
—Scott Sakakihara for Senate 2026, Cooperative of American Physicians State PAC, $5,900; DRIVE Committee, $5,000. TOTAL: $10,900.
—David Cohen for California Senate District 10 2026, Ruth Fletcher of Los Gatos, $2,500. TOTAL: $2,500.
STATE ASSEMBLY - 14TH DISTRICT
—Buffy Wicks for Assembly 2026, Betfair Interactive US LLC dab Fanduel Group, Inc., $6,300; Pearson Fuels, $1,500; California Hospital Association PAC, $1,500. TOTAL: $9,300.
STATE ASSEMBLY - 20TH DISTRICT
—Liz Ortega-Toro for Assembly 2026, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 595 PAC, $7,400; SEIU Local 2015 State PAC, $5,900; Professional Engineers in California Government PAC, $2,500. TOTAL: $15,800.
STATE ASSEMBLY - 18TH DISTRICT
—Mia Bonta for Assembly 2026, United Domestic Workers of America Action Fund, $5,900; PACE of California School Employees Association, $2,000; Novartis Services, Inc., $2,000. TOTAL: $9,900.
STATE ASSEMBLY - 16TH DISTRICT
—Rebecca Bauer-Kahan for Assembly 2026, Blue Shield of California, $5,000;Professional Engineers in California Government PAC, $1,500. TOTAL: $6,500.
STATE ASSEMBLY - 24TH DISTRICT
—Alex Lee for State Assembly 2026, Professional Engineers in California Government PAC, $3,000. TOTAL: $3,000.
CONGRESS
14TH DISTRICT
—Rakhi Israni for Congress, Rakhi Israni of Fremont, $198,000; Barry Kramer of Palo Alto, $3,500. TOTAL: $201,500.
—Dr. Aisha Wahab for Congress, United Pilots PAC, $5,000; The Nea Fund for Children & Public Education, $5,000; DRIVE Committee, $2,500; Mir Aamir of Danville, $1,000. TOTAL: $13,500.
17TH DISTRICT
—Ro Khanna for Congress, Inc., Kumar Ganapathy of Newark, $7,000; Conrad Getty of New York, NY, $7,000; Girish Pancha of San Francisco, $7,000; Amy Fowler of Lake Oswego, Ore., $3,500; Noah Mark of Palo Alto, $3,500; Charles Myers of New York, NY, $3,500; Buck Gee of Berkeley, $3,305; Julie Wainwright of Belvedere, Calif., $2,500; Michael Walsh of San Francisco, $2,200; Andrew Butler of Palo Alto, $1,000; Myla Kabat-Zinn of Northhampton, Mass., $1,000. TOTAL: $41,505.
—🧾EXPENDITURES—Form 496 Independent Expenditure Reports filed on May 29-30:
STATE LEGISLATURE
10TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT
—Scott Sakakihara, Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across (Meta) California. 👍SUPPORT (Mailers—$94,845, Mailer—$50,578, Mailer—$27,672). TOTAL: $173,095.
