Progressives finally have a chance to unseat Sheriff Greg Ahern. Can they deny him an outright win in June?
EAST BAY JUNE PRIMARY PREVIEW
PROLOGUE
In three previous re-election campaigns, Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern didn’t need to lift a finger. He ran unopposed each time. Over time, a running list of allegations of misconduct by his deputies, a number of in-custody inmate deaths, the poor conditions at Santa Rita Jail, and Urban Shield, fomented cries by local Democrats and progressives, to locate a viable candidate to challenge Ahern. Until this year, the search always came up empty. Ahern is by far an Alameda County anomaly. Ahern is the county’s highest-ranking Republican, unapologetic, and loathed for it.
MEET THE CANDIDATES
GREG AHERN
Ahern was appointed sheriff back in 2007. He succeeded longtime Alameda County Sheriff Charlie Plummer, a glad-handing, old school cop. Ahern couldn’t be more different. The antipathy that progressives hold for him is largely ignored by Ahern. Neither engaging or warm, Ahern has always been an enigma. A quiet, but confident “Dirty Harry” type character who exudes law and order. That unwavering persona, however, has taken a few hits in recent years. Ahern was unable to stop the dismantling of Urban Shield, the police training and law enforcement expo he created. Ahern was also unable to resist the arrival of independent oversight of his department and a wide-ranging civil rights lawsuit. Because of the challenges to his authority, along with his lengthy tenure as sheriff, it was somewhat surprising that he chose to run for re-election this year.
YESENIA SANCHEZ
Since 2020, Sanchez has overseen Santa Rita Jail in Dublin as division commander, and has 24 years of experience at the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. She is a Hayward native who has described during the campaign early bouts with homelessness prior to her career in law enforcement. Sanchez has also played up the fact that her bid to unseat Ahern amounts to career suicide since Ahern is her boss. She has also noted the occupational hazards that women in law enforcement face.
JOANN WALKER
A 26-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, Walker has wide-ranging experience in training police. She entered the race prior to Sanchez and had formed an early partnership with Alameda County District Attorney candidate Pamela Price. Somewhere along the way, the arrangement soured. Walker has offered a platform for reforming the sheriff’s department, but has struggled to entice donors to her cause, which forced her to loan the campaign $65,500 this year.
PLOTLINES
For a candidate like Ahern with so many perceived negatives (noted in the prologue), voters just haven’t heard about them from his opponents. Sanchez and, especially, Walker have painted Ahern as running the sheriff’s department like his own private domain. Walker once called the department corrupt, in which, Ahern understood she meant he was corrupt. Ahern has a major fundraising advantage in this race that only amplifies his power of the incumbency. A major Northern California car dealer named Inder Dosanjh spent $130,000 on campaign, using each of his dealerships to circumvent the county’s $40,000 contribution limit. Ahern also has a few IEs helping him out, which further compounds his advantage over Sanchez and Walker. Furthermore, progressives and Alameda County Democrats have proven feckless during the primary. Ahern has also benefitted from endorsements from Democrats like Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Gov. Jerry Brown.
PAST RESULTS
2018 JUNE PRIMARY
Greg Ahern 211,884 votes (95.76%)
Write-in 9,386 votes (4.24%)
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
GREG AHERN—Jan. 1-April 23
Cash on Hand $356,593
Cash IN $80,470
Cash OUT $78,266
Loans/Debts $0
Total Cash IN (2021-22) $384,234
Donor Type: New car dealers/local businesses/individuals. Notable Donors: Nancy O’Malley $5,000; Santa Rita Bail Bill Bonds $2,500; Construction & General Laborers Local Union 304 PAC $2,500; Jeff Kuo $2,500; Tony Dutra $1,000; Carl Chan $1,000; Sblend Sblendorio $1,000; Eden Realty Operations Account $500.
Top Endorsers: Rep. Eric Swalwell; former California Gov. Jerry Brown; Supervisors Nate Miley, David Haubert; District Attorney Nancy O’Malley; Alameda County Republican Party.
Independent Expenditure Committees: SUPPORT-United Latinos Vote PAC, Preserving Agriculture in Alameda County.
YESENIA SANCHEZ—Jan. 1-April 23
Cash on Hand $34,386
Cash IN $63,608
Cash OUT $66,845
Loans/Debts $40,088
Total Cash IN (2021-22) $138,398
Donor Type: Labor unions/elected officials. Notable Donors: Bill Quirk for Assembly 2022 $5,000; David Duong $5,000; Man Hao Chen $5,000; Asian Americans for Progressive Alameda $3,513; Alysse Castro $2,750; International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 549 PAC $2,500; IBEW Local 595 $1,500.
Top Endorsers: Alameda County Democratic Party, Assemblymember Mia Bonta, Libby Schaaf, Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO, SEIU 1021, Building Trades Council of Alameda County.
JOANN WALKER—Jan. 1-April 23
Cash on Hand $29,050
Cash IN $-10,551
Cash OUT $36,889
Loans/Debts $97,898
Total Cash IN (2021-22) $91,745
Donor Type: Self-financed/individuals. Notable Donors: Adrienne Hanson $1,300; Greg Torres $1,247; Sheila Jordan $100.
Top Endorsers: Jean Quan, Dan Kalb, Our Revolution.
PRIMARY OUTLOOK
The Alameda County Democratic Central Committee’s May meeting showed they and progressives at large sense that Ahern has escaped their clutches once again. Three members of the committee labeled Ahern some version of a Fascist Nazi. It was overheated rhetoric that only showed their frustration with how this primary campaign has gone for them. Like Pamela Price in the DA’s race, Ahern is also a regional candidate, but flipped. While Ahern is widely unpopular in Oakland and Berkeley areas, he is quite popular in the Tri-Valley and Southern Alameda County. Progressives never seems to understand this paradigm when it comes to Ahern. One of the most amazing storylines in this entire East Bay primary season is that Ahern’s campaign has moved forward virtually unscathed, a surprising development since progressives in this county had supposedly be laying the foundation to unseat him for years. The day came and they are likely to have failed miserably. In fact, it’s Ahern who has done potentially sizable harm to the Alameda County Democratic Party by using some of the party’s biggest names against them. It’s unconscionable that Swalwell, Brown, and Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley allowed themselves to be co-opted by Ahern, a Republican. With their help not only is it likely that Ahern wins another four years, but he has laid the foundation for ripping apart the Alameda Democratic Party.
PREDICTION
Ahern wins outright in June. 1. Ahern 2. Sanchez 3. Walker.
MAILBOX
A SURVEY OF EAST BAY POLITICAL MAILERS
—NEGATIVITY—It’s beginning to get chippy out there with with just weeks before Election Day. Last week, we saw Alameda County District Attorney candidate Jimmie Wilson turn up the heat on his opponent Terry Wiley. The negative ad could be a game changer in the race, but all well-laid plans can somehow go awry. For example, here’s a white guy from Alameda confusing which of the two Black candidates sent the mailer negative mailer and which one was the victim. Perhaps, the candidate’s names are too similar?
—JUST CAUSE FOR WORRY—On Monday, I told you about great worry landlords in Alameda County are having about the campaign of Alameda County District 3 supervisorial candidate Rebecca Kaplan, who is advocating for just cause protections for unincorporated Alameda County renters. Here’s an IE’s hit on Kaplan:
—NOD TO PROGRESSIVES—Opportunity PAC, the IE opposing Lily Mei’s campaign in the 10th State Senate District, also sent an attack mailer this week. Aiming to attract the attention of progressives in the district, the mailer highlights Mei’s refusal to take a knee with protesters in 2020 at a rally for police accountability.
—PUT A HAT ON HIM—Shawn Kumagai’s campaign in the 20th Assembly District and an IE supporting him sure likes him in hats.
—ALL THE SINGLE LADIES—Meanwhile, Liz Ortega’s campaign for the 20th Assembly District has a mailer out that focuses on female voters.
—AHERN: DEM DESTROYER—Some Alameda County Democrats earlier this month called Sheriff Greg Ahern a Fascist Nazi. Ahern’s response is “Who’s you daddy?” Two mailers last week, one from his campaign and another from a late-emerging IE, play up the fact that a number of high profile local Democrats are endorsing his re-election.
—POSITIVITY—Meanwhile, Teresa Keng, a candidate in the 24th Assembly District, is all about love and caring in this digital ad… and this is the weirdest thing I’ve seen during the entire June primary season.