The latest was from the Livermore Pleasanton Firefighters Association, one of several union endorsements he’s received. He is facing Fremont City Councilman Vinnie Bacon Nov. 3 after the two topped the field in the March primary.
He also has an impressive list of local mayors backing him, including his Tri-Valley counterparts, John Marchand of Livermore, Jerry Thorne of Pleasanton, Karen Stepper of Danville and Bill Clarkson of San Ramon. Supervisors Haggerty and Nate Miley also have endorsed him as has Sheriff Greg Ahern. They are joined by the mayors of Alameda, Hayward, Newark, San Leandro and Piedmont. Three members of the City Councils of both Pleasanton and Livermore also back him.
By contrast, Bacon’s only mayoral endorsement is from his hometown mayor, Lily Mei . He’s also backed by the county central labor council, the Service Employees International Union and the Sierra Club.
Of course, endorsements do not necessarily translate into votes. The presidential campaign and the heated battles over key ballot measures tend to drain much of the oxygen from the room for down ballot races despite their local importance. All five Tri-Valley cities will elect council members this fall. It’s notable that all four directly elected mayors are termed out so there will be different people in those roles come December.
What will be interesting is how much of the election is conducted by mail. Our precinct was collapsed several years ago so my neighborhood has been routinely voting by mail. For county officials, attracting poll workers could be a real challenge because they typically are retired people who like serving—in other words folks at more risk for COVID-19.
And then there’s the shameful law that former Gov. Jerry Brown signed that legalized ballot harvesting—an invitation to vote fraud. That allows one person to “help” others by collecting their ballots and then turning them in to the registrar’s office.
Meanwhile in Dublin, the race for Haubert’s seat drew its first contestant, Councilwoman Melissa Hernandez. Hernandez finished a close third in the supervisors’ primary race. Her announcement noted endorsements from Marchand and Thorne.
The next couple of weeks will be quite busy as candidates and campaigns that normally would have started months ago get cranked up as the filing deadline looms in early August.
