$tate $enate $tirrings
Labor is already spending in SD7 race, What's up with Sandre Swanson?; Campaign Finance Data is back! Price equates her prosecutors to retail workers
ELECTION 2024
7TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT
—GROUND FLOOR—The race for state Sen. Nancy Skinner’s termed out seat next year began in earnest two months ago when Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin announced his candidacy. Kathryn Lybarger, Dan Kalb, and Jovanka Beckles subsequently jumped into the race. In addition, a blast from the past appears to be thinking about a run.
—But each of their moves have been much more than merely making an announcement. A few have reported significant early fundraising numbers. In every case, it’s maxed out contributions flowing from labor unions.
—Because this is a non-election year, we won’t know firm campaign finance numbers until the mid-year reports are posted in July.
—But contributions larger than $1,000 are required to be reported much earlier. The incomplete totals, nonetheless, provide a good snapshot for how much some candidates are raising and what groups are supporting them with less than a year before primary day.
PUBLICLY REPORTED CONTRIBUTIONS
Lybarger $41,300
Arreguin $32,500
—What is abundantly clear from these very early campaign contributions is that labor is writing almost all of the checks, but not all of them are with Lybarger, the labor union boss at AFSCME Local 3299.
—Sheet metal workers appear to have an affinity for Arreguin, as you will see below in the return of Campaign Finance Data.
—There’s another interesting nugget of information in these early reports: Former East Bay Assemblymember Sandré Swanson previously opened a committee for the 2024 7th District race and he’s starting to received donations.
—Recently, Swanson’s committee received two contributions totaling $11,000. One $5,500 check came this week via State Superintendent Tony Thurmond’s campaign committee.
—Here’s another important tidbit to factor in when determining Swanson’s intentions for next year:
—Swanson’s 2016 campaign committee for this same seat, which he lost to Nancy Skinner, is still carrying $96,716 in debt.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to East Bay Insiders Newsletter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.