This is how bizarre the campaign for Congress has become.
I got an email today from Scott Wiener. I mean, not from Wiener, who doesn’t talk to me, but from a campaign staffer using the candidate’s name. It says:
The moment the results came in last Tuesday, the calls started. Right-wing groups. Corporate PACs. Dark money interests who have watched what I’ve done in Sacramento – on housing, on LGBTQ rights, on climate, on standing up to Trump – and they do not want me in Congress.
They will spend whatever it takes to stop us.
Um, hold on a second, Scott. There is no Republican in this race. The person you are running against is to your left on most issues. Connie Chan supported the overpaid CEO tax. You opposed it. Chan supported the Gaza Cease-Fire resolution. You opposed it. Chan has the support of most labor groups in the state; you have the real-estate industry.
It’s hard to imagine that right-wing PACs and dark money groups are going to come in on the side of Chan to keep you out of Congress. They would much rather have you.
Let’s consider where some of the money on your side comes from.
Among your donors: Crypto plutocrat Chris Larsen, who gave your campaign $7,000 and put $100,000 into the Abundant Future PAC that supported you. The company he runs gave $5 million to the Trump inauguration.
Sam Altman, of OpenAI, gave $3,000 to your campaign. He also gave $1 million to the Trump inauguration.
Real estate magnate Dede Wilsey gave you $3,500. She also hosted a fundraiser for Trump.
(All of this is public record, and easily available on OpenSecrets and other sources.)
None of these folks supported Chan. The money in an independent expenditure committee backing her was all from labor unions.
I also got a message, this time a text, from Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. I mean, again, Pelosi hasn’t spoken to me in decades, but her donor-list folks have my number. She’s raising money for Chan, with no darkness-and-doom messaging: “Connie proved that a people-powered campaign can defeat millions of dollars in special interest spending.”
Pelosi has quite the fundraising list, and her help may level the playing field a bit: Wiener and his allies had five times as much money as Chan in the primary.
But Wiener will have the most PAC money, the most dark money, the most corporate money—and by far the most money from people who also donate to Trump.
So Scott: I know scare tactics (and coopting progressive talking points) help raise money, but your potential donors should know the truth: There are no dark-money right wing folks lining up behind your opponent. They are far more likely to be lining up behind you.
Full disclosure: My independent adult daughter works on the Connie Chan for Congress campaign.
