Turn Up The AC Transit Race
In Which: I talk about the Johnson Amendment. HPD and HFD Unions drop cash to get new buildings. And I highlight how establishment power is used to win elections.
Campaign Updates
There’s a big campaign finance deadline coming up—this Thursday—so we’ll be analyzing that in the coming days, as paperwork becomes available. In the meantime, things are still happening that you should know about. And if there’s a local race I’m not covering, let me know.
Hayward Teacher’s Union Spends On HUSD Race
The Hayward Education Association (HEA) has dropped big money for their endorsed candidates. In a race where only one candidate seems to do any fundraising, HEA stepped in and dropped $7,630 each on Austin Bruckner-Carrillo, Peter Bufete, and Sara Prada. The money wasn’t given to the candidates directly, but spent on printing costs.
Since all candidates received an equal amount of money, it’s likely that HEA spent almost $23,000 on a set of mailers featuring all three candidates. So keep an eye out for that in your mailboxes in the coming weeks.
Andrews Starts Ramping Up
Walk around Downtown Hayward and you’ll start to see the first signs of election season ramping up. Councilmember Andrews is already getting her signs in the windows of Downtown businesses. It’s a time-honored tactic to try to encourage local businesses to sway local voters.
She’s also been showcasing her endorsements on social media. Recent Instagram reels have included some notable establishment figures, including Eric Swalwell, Liz Ortega, and her former Council colleague Elisa Marquez. There’s a long list on her website, but one particular organization caught my eye.
On her website, as of September 24, Angela Andrews lists Glad Tidings as an organization that endorses her candidacy. Glad Tidings is a Pentecostal church on Tennyson Blvd and, if this is the same Glad Tidings that has allegedly endorsed Angela Andrews, risks running afoul of the Johnson Amendment.
[NOTE: This appears to have been an error and has been changed to an endorsement from Bishop Jerry W. Macklin, who works for Glad Tidings.]
The Johnson Amendment prohibits 501(c)3 nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. If they’re caught violating the statute, the nonprofits run the risk of losing their tax exempt status. Although former President Donald Trump proposed eliminating the Johnson Amendment, the effort thankfully failed.
AC Transit Race Is Establishment Vs. Labor
The AC Transit race is not the most exciting election in November—how many of us actually use the bus? However, it functions as an example of how establishment power can influence an election. So let’s take a moment to look in on the AC Transit Ward 6 candidates with an eye on how they’ve approached the race.
Labor Candidate: Jesse Gunn
Jesse Gunn is an educator and active bus user. He was raised and lives in Hayward, is a teacher, and is a renter. He has been campaigning since January 26th, when his committee was formed. Given his background, Gunn has been courting labor groups since the very beginning, with one of his first endorsements being the Transit Operator’s Union—the folks who actually drive the busses.
Gunn has also secured seven other building and construction trades endorsements, some local political action groups like the Working Families Party, and the Alameda County Democratic Party. On the local front, he’s gotten endorsements from four Hayward City Councilmembers (Syrop, Zermeno, Bonilla, and Goldstein), a bunch of Community Services Commissioners, two Planning Commissioners, and Assemblymember Liz Ortega and State Senator Aisha Wahab.
Overall, the campaign has leaned hard into union ties—which makes sense, as Gunn has been an active member in the Hayward Education Association and served on the Alameda County Labor Council. It’s come off as being a bit more to the left, with the likes of Alfred Twu and Barisha Spriggs endorsing , both of whom ran for AC Transit in the past against strong establishment candidates.
Gunn’s platform addresses the fiscal problems facing public transit since the COVID lockdowns, but he focuses on working with the state to close the gap. He also leans into reliability, cooperation with labor partners, and even touches on environmentalism.
Establishment Candidate: Shonda Goward
Shonda Goward also works in education, she’s an Associate Vice Provost (basically a Vice President) at San Jose State University. She also lives in Hayward, also is a renter, and is a Black woman. But she also got into the race a bit later, her campaign committee wasn’t formed until July 17th. Rumor has her being tapped by establishment groups looking for a Person of Color to represent Hayward—multiple people were allegedly asked.
Goward’s endorsements are almost entirely politicians. She does have the support of AFSCME 3916, which represents the management, administrative, and professional employees at AC Transit, as well as the Sierra Club, BWOPA, and the Hayward Democratic Club. Beyond that, it’s politicians all the way down: Supervisor Elisa Marquez, Mayor Mark Salinas, Councilmembers Andrews, Goldstein, and Roche, and the entire rest of the Planning Commission. She even got Al Mendall on board—rumor has it that Mendall has very specific, anti-worker, views of public transit.
Goward did get the endorsement of the Hayward Area Democratic Club, but apparently a number of members no longer live in Hayward. Most of them also submitted their votes before hearing the candidates speak, suggesting members had already chosen their preferred candidate.
Goward’s priorities focus heavily on the financial stability of AC Transit, mentioning the budget at least three times. Overall, she feels aligned with the Democratic Establishment—technocratic solutions, austerity, means-testing. Her website seems to imply that she works at CSUEB, though she left in 2021 for a promotion at SJSU.
So What?
For voters in Hayward, we have to ask if we’re okay with a candidate being elevated based solely on who they cozy up to. Shonda Goward’s candidacy highlights the power that the political establishment can exert during elections. She was elevated by a group of local political players and all but eliminated a six month lead that Jesse Gunn had.
They were able to sway the local Democratic club and almost swayed the Alameda County Democratic Party. In a down-ballot race like AC Transit where the average voter won’t even look at a candidate’s website, these endorsements have real power. It’s also likely scored her a solid amount of money, which can be even more powerful—just ask Supervisor Nate Miley and his landlord friends.
That kind of elevation isn’t free—if they’re getting someone power, they’ll expect favors later in some form or another. It’s why lobbying works. The question we, as voters in Hayward, have to ask ourselves is: Am I okay with who they owe?
HPD And Fire Unions Spend Big To Get New HQ
The Hayward Officers’ Association (HOA)—the local Cop Union—dropped a $10,000 donation to support Measure K1, as it will be known in November. Measure K1 is the extension of Measure C’s half-cent sales tax, which Council elected to support earlier this year. And although it is in the best interest for City Staff to support more City money, there’s a more direct interest here.
As we’ve covered before, one of the primary objectives of the Measure K1 funds will be to construct a new Police HQ by the Hayward Executive Airport. The expected cost for the facility is anywhere from $145,000,000 to $200,000,000—and it may even be more than that.
But no matter what, the Measure K1 funds will be necessary to make it happen—and the City has made it a priority, regardless of the fact that affordable housing was the second-highest priority from the community. It will be the biggest project and, bear in mind, HPD is still getting over $1,000,000 per year from the old Measure C funds.
The Hayward Firefighter’s Union also dropped $10,000 in support of Measure K1 which, with its messaging on public safety, would benefit them directly with infrastructure improvements, as well. The thinking is, much like with AFL-CIO’s $1,000 donation, that spending a $10,000 now to get $200,000,000 for new buildings that the building and construction trades (AFL-CIO) will get the contracts for.