This East Bay Dem-on-Dem proxy battle may feature reproductive rights

Supervisor Miley says Board needs to retain experience, calls primary opponents 'novices;' Alameda County Fire wants to use Castro Valley's old library as a temporary fire station

Ninth State Senate District candidate Marisol Rubio at Monday night’s Tri-Valley Democratic Club meeting in Dublin.

ELECTION 2024

9TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT

—DEM DIVISIONS—The open 9th State Senate District seat that includes Contra Costa County, along with San Leandro and unincorporated Alameda County, is shaping up as yet another contentious Democratic difference of opinion.

—Potentially like the last years’ hard-fought race in the East Bay’s 10th State Senate District between Democrats Aisha Wahab and Lily Mei, the early going of the 9th District race between Democrats Marisol Rubio and Tim Grayson, could divide the party and donors

—In this case, Rubio is the union-friendly progressive. Grayson is the business-friendly moderate.

—We’ve seen this story before, and the result is typically an outpouring of campaign contributions and independent expenditure committee throwing around big money in a proxy war between labor and real estate interests. Just how large the proxy war will be is not yet clear.

—Last Thursday, Grayson already primed the pump of special interests’ money by accepting a maxed out $5,500 from a pro-business group named Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy.

— The PAC is backed by the California Apartment Association, supporters of charter schools, and other pro-business groups.

—Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy supported Lily Mei in last year’s state Senate election but was far more interested in opposing Liz Ortega in the 20th Assembly District race, who, like Wahab, is a progressive backed by unions.

—Rubio, also a San Ramon councilmember, attempted to draw distinctions between herself and Grayson, a current member of the state assembly, at the Tri-Valley Democratic Club on Monday night.

—One particularly potent talking point for Rubio this primary season will be reproductive rights, an issue deeply important to many East Bay voters—for both Democrats and Republicans—following the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

—“The person I’m running against is literally considered the most hostile Democrat by NARAL to repeal freedom of reproduction. That’s the kind of person I’m running against,” Rubio said. NARAL is a pro-choice advocacy group.

—The group’s 2022 review of Grayson’s assembly record gave him a “D” grade and earned him the label of being “hostile to reproductive freedom.”

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MORE INSIDE:

• County says nary a sideshow in the unincorporated areas since ordinance

• Miley says he’s constantly looking over his shoulder because of crime

• Long-term use for Castro Valley’s old library is coming into focus