California Lieutenant Governor Primary Election June 5 — Workers vs. the Oligarchy
Two self-funding millionaires are facing off against a working-class progressive for the leading spot in California’s Lieutenant Governor race as the contest enters its final month. The top two candidates, regardless of party, will emerge from the June 5 primary election to face off in November.
Cole Harris, Republican, has given himself $2 million, spending down quickly on digital media, slate mailer contributions, and a raft of Nevada consultants.
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis (“Elenie TK”), Democrat, gave her campaign $750,000 and her father, legendary Sacramento developer and major Democratic Party donor Angelo Tsakopoulos has funded a $5 million super PAC on her behalf.
The modestly funded Gayle McLaughlin, former two-term mayor of Richmond, Calif., and the only candidate with elected executive experience, is running with no party preference and holding her own against these big spenders. Her issue-based advertising campaign on Facebook is consistently earning 20-times the engagement of Eleni TK and three times that of Harris, who’s spent hundreds of thousands on data targeting and online advertising (Harris outspend McLaughlin 30-to-1 in the first four months of this year).
McLaughlin was the only candidate to qualify for the ballot via signatures, gathering more than 14,000 through the volunteer efforts of scores of activists throughout California. I am Gayle’s consultant.
Cole Harris will be easy to beat in the general election. Developer Eleni TK, though, represents a real danger to California democracy— she’s already bought an Ambassador seat through political donations, now she and her father (with an estimated net worth of $650 million) are trying to buy a SECOND California office (Angelo Tsakopoulos spent more than $10 million in 2006 trying to elect former employee and California Treasurer Phil Angelides as Governor).
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis is an American oligarch and she and her family should not be allowed to buy their way into another office. She must be defeated in the primary.
Angela Tsakopoulos’ 3,000+ California campaign finance transactions
