Wage bigbucks battle for state Senate seat

issues ranging from housing production to their relationships with former President Barack Obama, they are trying to distance themselves from a political framing that could pigeonhole them at the state Capitol.

Cortese, 64, the Santa Clara County supervisor who finDemocrats first in the March primary, is close to organized labor. He’s been endorsed by the California Labor Federation and other major state unions, which are funding an independent expenditure committee that has spent nearly $ 1.7 million on his behalf in the past month.

Although he promises to stand with unions on worker protections, Cortese said he has built up enough trust with labor over his decades in politics that he can say no when they ask for too much.

“I’m not afraid to tell them when they’re overreaching,” he said. “That’s my reputation. And I think it puts me in the position of being a statesman.”

Ravel, 71, has presented herself as the “very independent” option in the race. The attorished ney’s candidacy has attracted support from a California Chamber of Commercesponsored independent expenditure committee, which has spent $ 2 million to help her. It is largely funded by Uber and Lyft, which are also waging an initiative campaign this fall over the employment status of their drivers.

That has led some opponents to question her Democratic credentials, which Ravel called “ridiculous.” She said she has a history of working with labor, including at a union law firm early in her career. Though she considers herself a moderate, she does not plan to align with the businessfriendly moderate Democratic caucus in the Legislature.

“I would describe myself definitely as moderate in the sense that I’m a lawyer, I’m a person who tries to understand issues in all their complexity and who wants to actually do what’s best for most people,” Ravel said. “I’m going to be a person who’s open to everyone’s concerns.”

The race for the 15th Senate District — which covers most of San Jose, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga — features two candidates with longstanding ties to the area who have worked together in local government, though from vastly different positions.

Cortese has held elected office for nearly 30 years, including for the past dozen on the Board of Supervisors. He said he would “land on my feet running” in Sacramento because he’s worked on many of the issues that are a priority in the Legislature. He cited his leadership in helping pass a $ 950 million affordable housing bond in Santa Clara County in 2016.

“You’ve had the opportunity to vet me, to test me, to see how I respond, to contact my office, to see me in action at neighborhood meetings,” he said. “Grade me on it. Look at me and say, ‘ How have you done?’ ”

Cortese, who is endorsed by the California Democratic Party and Beall, said he would focus on climate change in the Legislature. He would pursue measures to adopt carbonnegative building codes, meaning that buildings would generate more energy than they consume, and redirect more of the state’s capandtrade revenue toward green infrastructure projects.

Ravel, who is supported by women’s political groups including Emily’s List and by San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, has had a long career in government, though never in elected office. After decades in the Santa Clara County counsel’s office, she chaired the state Fair Political Practices Commission and was appointed to the Federal Election Commission by Obama.

She said her motivation to run for the Senate crystallized in 2018, as she watched state lawmakers debate whether to strike a deal with paint companies to pay for cleaning up lead paint in old homes. The proposal, which was never approved, would have replaced a judgment in a longrunning lawsuit that Ravel originated as county counsel in 2000. She considers the case, the first in the country to win a claim against paint manufacturers, her proudest accomplishment.

“I’m not afraid to stand up to wrongdoing. I’m not afraid to actually do what’s right for the public,” Ravel said. “I didn’t just vote on something or do what someone told me to do. I actually thought of a solution and carried through.”

Ravel said she plans to introduce legislation related to campaign finance issues, her specialty, including a requirement

or make sure they work,” he said.

Another factor may be that young people, with no place to go and nothing to do during the pandemic shutdown, are heading to the hills to hang out and party, especially when warm weather makes staying indoors hard.

At times, the parties and sideshows — which aren’t exactly quiet — may include gunplay.

“It’s a challenge, but our commanders have been working on it,” Oakland Deputy Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said.

Quick response to any gun activity is a top priority for Oakland police. But unlike other parts of the city, the East that corporations get shareholders’ approval to give campaign contributions.

One issue where the candidates split is over how to deal with the shortage of affordable homes in the Bay Area — particularly an unsuccessful legislative effort to allow denser residential construction around public transit and in wealthy suburbs.

Cortese supported its aggressive approach to jumpstarting production around transit, which he said would enable the Bay Area to build enough housing for workers who have been forced to commute from as far as the Central Valley.

“I have a very pragmatic approach,” he said. “We have a crisis. We need to get housing built now. We need to locate it properly.”

Committees funded by the building industry and Realtors have spent more than $ 800,000 on advertising for Cortese.

Ravel said measures should focus more on lowincome people, such as making it easier to compel counties to give up excess land for affordable housing. She also backs a bill making it easier to split lots and

Oakland hills lack ShotSpotter, the sensor system that automatically alerts police when shots are fired.

“People hear it, but they don’t call in because they think it’s being picked up by ShotSpotter,” Armstrong said.

The result is that the shooters often have time to fire off rounds and leave the area before the police arrive.

Scary as the sound of gunplay may be, it pales in comparison to the real toll that gun violence is taking in the flats of Oakland where, as The Chronicle reported, the city has logged many of the more than 80 slayings so far in 2020, up from 58 at this time last year.

“People are anxious about even going outside of their convert homes into duplexes.

“There are lots of tech people that can afford to plunk $ 2 million in cash, and they can afford to buy those houses and there are plenty of them on the market,” she said. “That is not the issue.”

The strangest division in the race has been over Obama. He endorsed Ravel, who has demanded Cortese stop using an image of himself greeting the former president at Moffett Federal Airfield in his campaign.

“He’s so full of ... I’m sorry, I can’t say what he’s full of,” Ravel said. “People who are going to lie in a blatant fashion are not going to be the type of legislator I want representing me, because they’re going to lie to the people.”

Cortese, who said he worked with the Obama administration in his role as a county supervisor, brushed off Ravel’s complaints.

“Really? You don’t want me to use a picture that’s a public picture in my campaign?” he said. “I don’t know where to go with that. It’s just kind of nonsense.”

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei. koseff@ sfchronicle. com Twitter: @ akoseff

homes,” Armstrong said. And with good reason.

As of Oct. 11, Oakland police had recovered 971 guns this year, 752 of them linked to a crime.

And it’s not just the number of guns, it’s the type of guns that are on the street.

“We are seeing much more highpowered types of weapons — firearms with extended magazines capable of shooting off 30 bullets at a time, Armstrong said. “This last week, I was at one crime scene where 60 rounds were fired. Last weekend, I was at a scene in Fairfax Avenue where 120 rounds were fired.”

According to police, much of the highcaliber carnage stems from gang wars involving the