Political action committees unleash money, direct mailers, and attacks in Richmond council races, measures
The collection of election materials delivered to the Grandview Independent’s headquarters has now stretched beyond 25 feet. Arranged end to end, the assortment of mailers and hand-delivered items extends halfway across the street.
The materials, which either endorse or oppose candidates for the Richmond City Council and school board, also include literature on two competing election reform measures.
Competing political action committees backed by city unions have spent heavily in District 6, where the California Democrat Party-endorsed Shawn Dunning is attempting to unseat the incumbent Claudia Jimenez, the Richmond Progressive Alliance candidate.
Based on campaign disclosures, East Bay Working Families, a coalition of unions and community groups, has financed various campaign activities in Richmond. SEIU Local 1021, which represents Richmond city workers, has heavily supported recent campaigns, contributing $100,000 through its Candidate PAC, $35,000 via its Issues PAC, and $174,000 through the California Workers' Justice Coalition.
The organization made expenditures in support of certain candidates and causes while opposing others – including Shawn Dunning and the Richmond Election Reform Act.
Spending in Support of Candidates
East Bay Working Families has directed funds toward canvassing, mailers, social media, and advertising to support specific city council candidates like Claudia Jiménez in District 6, Melvin Willis in District 1, and Sue Wilson in District 5. High-cost items include multiple $20,000 and $19,000 allocations for canvassing activities in late September, along with mailer expenses reaching nearly $5,000 each on several occasions throughout October.
Mailers from East Bay Working Families claim Dunning wants to “change the law to give billion-dollar companies and major polluters a tax break."
Dunning said election season brings out the worst in some people and organizations, and they will stop at nothing to win. He urged voters not to assume anything received in the mail is accurate.
“There are plenty of legitimate sources of information available, such as every single penny of campaign finances, tracked per FPPC guidelines and available online,” Dunning said. “If you go to the City of Richmond elections website, you can see for yourself.”
Dunning said he came into the campaign prepared to defend anything he had ever said or done but did not anticipate having to defend things he had never said or done.
“It’s just full-on Trumpian tactics that I think the best course is just to ignore,” Dunning said.
East Bay Working Families also reported expenditures in opposition to the Richmond Election Reform Act, contributing significant resources to counter this proposal. The coalition’s funds supported television spots, digital ads, and mailers for their stance against the act, which aims to establish a traditional primary system for mayoral and city council elections. Instead, the organization backs Measure L, which promotes ranked-choice voting in Richmond elections.
Richmond police union spending
The Richmond Police Officers Association reported spending $265,966 this year on multiple political mailers opposing Jimenez and Measure L. The mailers suggest that Jimenez's policies are responsible for recent crimes and police staffing related to defunding the police.
In an email, Jimenez said the Richmond Police Officers Association has a history of mailing inaccurate attack mailers during city elections, which distort her position on policing.
“Those extremists within the police union have other issues with me as well. I am the City Council liaison to the Community Police Review Committee, a group of Richmond residents that investigates allegations of police misconduct. The extremists would prefer that the committee do very little, but I support the CPRC’s desire to do vigorous investigations and hand out real consequences when misconduct occurs,” Jimenez wrote.
Jimenez said she and the city council used $3 million from 12 vacant, unfilled police officer positions and put it to use for a set of underfunded safety programs in 2021.
Jimenez said this is a common budgetary practice of counting the number of unfilled positions, determining how many are likely to be filled in the next year, and moving the money that wouldn’t be used to invest in other priorities.
“In total, we moved $3 million out of a 2021 police budget of over $60 million –
that’s about 5 percent. This is how budgets for every department are kept accurate and balanced from year to year,” Jimenez said.
Ben Therriault, President of the Richmond Police Officers Association, said Jimenez led the council’s efforts to defund the police, and the police union PAC sent the mailers to inform voters and residents about her record on public safety.
“When she and her friends of the RPA started talking about defunding the police department, officers got tired of the political rhetoric, so they voted with their feet,” Therriault said. “We lost hundreds of years of institutional knowledge at the police department.”
Therriault said eliminating vacancies and taking money from a budget is still reducing a budget and is still defunding.
“She can call it whatever she wants to, but the bottom line is getting rid of vacancies is still defunding,” Therriault said. “She’s entitled to her own opinions, but she’s not entitled to her own facts.”
Richmond Votes Matters
Richmond Votes Matters, Primarily Formed to Support Measure J and Oppose Measure L, reported spending $504,782 this year. Expenditures were made to entities such as Democracy Werks in Sacramento, which received payments totaling over $190,000.
Candidates reported receiving $264,132 in total contributions with Jimenez still leading fundraising with $67,667. Dunning reported $47,180 in contributions. Ahmad Anderson running to replace Gayle McLaughlin in District 5 reported $50,063 the second highest amount. Anderson’s opponent Sue Wilson reported $46,488. Melvin Willis, running to retain his District 1 seat has raised $38,701 while his opponent Dr. Jamelia Brown reported $14,032.
Craig Lazzeretti of Martinez News and Views called the role of special interest PACs a blemish on our electoral system and evidence of the need for campaign finance reform.
Craig Lazzeretti
“The fact that independent expenditure political action committees such as these can dominate the messaging received by voters with outlandish spending — and equally outlandish and often false or misleading attacks on the candidates — speaks to the current fragility of our democratic systems, and the outsized role that big money and organized interest groups have come to play in manipulating voters and the electoral system to their benefit,” Lazzeretti said.
Lazzeretti said PAC-sponsored mailers often mislead and deceive voters. Serious voters should research candidates and make decisions based on their values and beliefs, not on PAC mailers.
“If as a voter you feel overwhelmed by the competing and dubious claims and don’t feel that you can make a choice that you are comfortable with, it is also fine to leave that race blank on your ballot and focus on the issues and races that you do feel strongly and well-informed about,” Lazzeretti said.
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