Wahab sends cease and desist letter to IE backing Lily Mei

Former Oakland DOT chief slams Sheng Thao over Measure U

A mailer sent last week by the IE Keeping Californians Working that made a convoluted connection between State Senate candidate Aisha Wahab and convicted rapist Brock Trurner.

ELECTION 2022

Days until Election Day: 27.

—LOAD OF BROCK—The race in the East Bay’s 10th State Senate District continues to heat up after a flurry of negative mailers were sent by an IE against candidate Aisha Wahab.

—Now, one of the mailer has elicited a cease and desist order from Wahab’s campaign to the IE named Keeping Californians Working and Keep California Golden.

—Wahab’s campaign took exception to mailers that featured convicted rapist Brock Turner, the Stanford student whose case became a lightning rod of criticism after he was initially given a lenient sentence by a Santa Clara judge.

—“The false and clearly bigoted and misogynistic attacks across Alameda and Santa Clara Counties also aim to deflect from Lily Mei’s controversial record on women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, Black Lives Matter, corruption, embezzlement, and more,” Wahab’s campaign wrote in a press release on Wednesday.

—“The coalitions supporting Lily Mei weaponized sexual assault for political gain by trying to associate the rising star politician with the controversial images and names of Judge [Aaron] Persky and Brock Turner — despite Wahab’s well known and documented history of support for the recall campaign.”

—Keeping Californians Working and Keep California Golden has spent roughly $500,000 in recent weeks blanketing the state senate district with the ads that made a convoluted connection between Wahab and the Turner case through a former Santa Clara County DA candidate.

ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

—ATTACK ON KAP—One of the expected hits on Alameda County Board of Supervisors candidate Rebecca Kaplan and her record on public safety finally came this week.

—The California Apartment Association sent voters a mailer on Tuesday detailing Kaplan’s role in attempting to defund the Oakland Police Department two years ago.

—“Your safety is her priority,” the mailer says of candidate Lena Tam. Using a photo of a casual Kaplan taken by yours truly and without attribution, the mailer continues, “As violent crime increased, Oakland City Council Member Rebecca Kaplan voted to cut millions from the Oakland Police budget.”

OAKLAND MEASURE U

— It remains to be seen how much damage has followed Oakland mayoral candidate Sheng Thao’s disastrous interview with the East Bay Times. But Thao’s dismissal of Oakland’s Measure U $850 million infrastructure bond’s chances and her lack of knowledge about it appears to be angering many folks.

—The former head of Oakland’s Department of Transportation slammed Thao for her comments about Measure U and labeled her an unserious candidate.

—Ryan Russo, who left the department last summer, added later in a thread on Twitter, “If you are going to run for Mayor, maybe know the name of the $850 million measure that is going to be on the same ballot and could allow you as Mayor to meet your constituents needs.”

Ryan Russo @TogetherRyan

1/5 This makes me angry. A perfect example of a very skilled politician who is being unserious about policy. We need serious leaders who don’t just go with the wind of the moment and jump ship when they sense voter frustration. Oakland deserves better.

youtu.beOakland Mayoral Candidate Sheng Thao’s endorsement InterviewAs Councilwoman Sheng Thao campaigns to be the next mayor of Oakland, she should know the details, or at least the fundamentals, of the $850 million bond mea...

CAMPAIGN FINANCE DATA

—IE SPENDING—Below is Form 496 Independent Expenditure Reports from Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon.

—Californians for Safer Streets Supporting Ignacio De La Fuente for Mayor of Oakland 2022 (Supporting De La Fuente), Television Ads ($32,000).

—Working Families for a Better Oakland supporting Sheng Thao for Oakland Mayor 2022 (Supporting Thao), Digital Ads ($52,000), Mailer ($28,364), Polling ($25,000), Doorhangers, $2,078.

—MONEYBALL—Below is Form 497 campaign contributions ($1,000 or more) filed Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon. *-local city campaign contribution limit.

COUNTY

ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY

—Terry Wiley (Alameda County District Attorney), Stephan for District Attorney 2022 of Encinitas, Calif., $3,000; Eileen McAndrew of Oakland, $2,100; Annie Esposito of Livermore, $1,500; Matthew Wendt of Danville, $1,000; California Apartment Association PAC, $1,000

—Pamela Price (Alameda County District Attorney), Smart Justice California Action Fund, $10,000.

AC TRANSIT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

—Barisha Spriggs (AC Transit Board of Directors-Ward 4), California Conference Board, Amalgamated Transit Union PAC, $4,000.

CITY

OAKLAND

—Sheng Thao (Oakland Mayor), IBEW 332 Education Fund, $1,800*.

BERKELEY

—Committee for An Affordable & Resilient Berkeley (Supporting Berkeley Measure L bond), NPH Action Fund Political Issues Committee, $15,000.

STATE LEGISLATURE

14TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

—Buffy Wicks (14th Assembly District), RingCentral, LLC, $4,900; California Mortgage Bankers Association PAC, $1,500; Taylor Morrison, Inc. Building Strong Business PAC, $1,000.

24TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

—Alex Lee (24th Assembly District), California State Retirees PAC, $1,500.