Props pulling in a ton of cash

Records tumble in costly election for ballot measures

You’ve been buried in mailers, flooded with texts and inundated with phone calls. Welcome to the final push of Election 2020, where campaigns and their supporters are spending big to rack up as many votes as possible before the polls close Nov. 3.

From local races to statewide ballot propositions, the money is flowing — in some cases at record levels. Hundreds of millions of dollars on a single ballot proposition. Millions on state Senate races, and hundreds of thousands on typically quiet city council races.

So does it matter?

“The best indication that it does is people keep spending,” said Jessica Levinson, an expert on money in politics and a professor at Loyola Law School. “Nobody likes to burn money in the street.”

Of the 12 propositions all California voters will see this year, proponents and opponents of Prop. 22 alone have drummed up roughly $220 million — more than any state measure ever.

You’ve definitely heard about this one if you turned on your TV anywhere in California in recent weeks. Prop. 22 is part of a longrunning dispute about whether companies like Uber, Lyft and Doordash should have to recognize drivers as employees — or whether they can be considered independent contractors. The proposition, if passed, would let the companies go the independent contractor route, but guarantee drivers a minimum level of compensation and health care subsidies.

The companies say nothing less than the future of the gig economy is at stake, and their spending reflects that. Supporters have raised more than $199 million to try to pass the measure — blowing past the previous record of $111 million spent by dialysis clinics to defeat Prop. 8 in 2018.

“It’s a small consolidated industry where everyone would benefit from this,” Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego, said of the coordinated, mega spending by the “yes” side.

Opponents, including major labor unions like the AFL- CIO and SEIU, say drivers deserve the protections offered by full employee status and have pooled together more than $19 million — a pittance by comparison but nothing to scoff at.

“There’s a lot at stake momentarily for an industry and that industry has a lot of money. Those two things don’t always happen together,” Levinson said.

Money is no guarantee of victory — something presidential hopefuls Tom Steyer and Mike Bloomberg know well. But, Kousser said, it can help stem the loss of support that initiatives typically experience over time.

All told, the statewide measures have pulled in more than $751 million in contributions. Other big money issues? Prop. 15, which would change the way commercial properties are taxed, has pulled in about $140 million — including roughly $77 million from supporters. The measure would ultimately mean more tax dollars for schools and the California Teachers Association, the state teachers union, has spent millions to get it over the finish line. But opponents, including business groups, have reeled in $63 million — and polls seem to indicate they are on track to defeat the measure.

Prop. 21, which would expand cities’ abilities to enact rent controls, has netted about $134 million — with supporters, including the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, kicking in around $ 40 million. Opponents, including major landlords like San Mateo-based Essex Property Trust, are bringing in about $94 million.

All the spending — especially after 2010’s Citizens United ruling gave big corporations and unions the right to spend huge sums — rubs some people the wrong way.

“So now you have a situation where, if money is speech, speech isn’t free,” said Sean Mcmorris of California Common Cause, an organization that has called for more transparency in elections. “You have more money, more speech.”

But, Kousser cautioned, while the spending signals that both the stakes and the impact of money on direct democracy are huge, it’s not new.

What is new this year is that voters across the state got their ballots by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic and millions have already returned them, a shift that sent campaigns scrambling to appeal to voters early.

“Typically, you would spend the bulk of your money the last week or 10 days,” Mcmorris said. “Now, you’re having to speed that up, a month in advance, and divvy it out.”

Smaller campaigns might choose to spend more up front. But deeppocketed companies like Uber and Lyft can continue throwing money into their campaigns later to pick up lingering, undecided voters

While most everyone has made up their mind about the presidential race, Levinson said, that’s not necessarily true for ballot propositions or down-ballot races.

“It’s a different story,” she said. And those annoying mailers? “That is still how some people get their information.”

Locally, big money is still flowing in the state Senate District 15 race to replace termed- out state Sen. Jim Beall as the representative for a swath of Silicon Valley. A group of unions have spent roughly a million dollars to help Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese win the seat, and more than a million dollars opposing challenger Ann Ravel, a member of the Federal Election Commission until shortly after Donald Trump took office.

An opposing group backed by the Chamber of Commerce has spent more than a million dollars backing Ravel and more than $800,000 opposing Cortese. Residents of the district have been hammered with nearly two dozen flyers, including at one point seven in a single day.

In Santa Clara, where the 49ers play, a committee funded by team owner Jed York has put nearly $3 million toward what he says is an attempt to diversify the City Council. But Mayor Lisa Gillmor — who has clashed repeatedly with Niners leadership — has called the unusually high spending an attempt to buy council seats.

Charter school advocates have helped Santa Clara County school board trustee Grace Mah’s campaign pull in north of $300,000 while her challenger Melissa Baten Caswell raked in $180,000 — an extraordinary sum for a county school board race.

Across the Bay, an Oakland council seat is also drawing significant money — and attention. A group sponsored by Ly ft has kicked $100,000 toward trying to unseat sitting councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan and replace her with business- allied Derreck Johnson.

Regardless of the winners and losers, especially at the state proposition level, interest groups with deep pockets will be paying close attention.

“The money will stop,” Levinson said, “when it stops making a difference.”