State Senate candidate Lily Mei is really low on cash; Shawn Kumagai quits central committee post

Alameda County Dems reaffirm support for countywide eviction moratorium

Tenth State Senate District candidates Fremont Mayor Lily Mei and Hayward Councilmember Aisha Wahab may not need much campaign cash this fall.

ELECTION 2022

10TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT

—SPARE A DIME?—Just weeks before before the June primary, the campaign of 10th State Senate District candidate Lily Mei was seriously running on fumes. Prior to the last week of May, Mei’s campaign reported a paltry $19,000 in remaining cash. For a high-profile legislative race, the extremely low figure was astonishing. Despite this, or perhaps, because of her heavy campaign spending in the primary, Mei topped fellow Democrat Aisha Wahab by three points. Both will resume their campaigns this fall. But Mei still holds an early fundraising disadvantage.

—Wahab, also a Hayward councilmember, reported $185,000 in cash on hand, through June 30, according to recently released campaign finance reports. During the final two weeks of the June primary, Wahab raised $122,000.

—Meanwhile, Mei, who is the mayor of Fremont, has just $48,000 in the bank, according to her mid-year campaign finance report. In the runup to the June primary, Mei raised roughly half as much a Wahab during the same period of time.

—Mei’s lack of campaign cash is clearly a problem. It’s no wonder Mei has been appearing at quite a number of events recently. According to her social media posts, Mei has seemingly visited every Asian banquet hall and dim sum establishment in the East Bay in hopes of drumming up checks for her campaign.

—But Mei, and also Wahab, may not need a very large influx of cash this fall. That’s because this race is likely to be funded by Independent Expenditure Committees. Landlords for Mei. Labor unions for Wahab.

—Last spring, we saw a large number of IEs pour millions into this race in favor and in opposition to each candidate, and it will likely continue. Having IEs do the dirty work means this race will become downright nasty over the next few months.

MORE INSIDE:

• SD10, AD20, AD24 campaign finance analysis, capsules.

• Kumagai steps down from central committee post

• Support for Alameda County’s eviction moratorium

• ALCO Dems to boot a central committee member

• Supporters hopes Oakland business tax measure spreads to other cities.

• More campaign finance capsules: Alameda and Hayward races.