Billionaire Money Tries to Shake a Local Democrat’s Campaign

The race for California’s 12th Assembly seat is heating up. A new ad shows a woman named Jackie Elward, who has served twice on the Rohnert Park City Council. She is running as a Democrat for state office, and she has strong backing from workers’ unions. The spot is only 30 seconds long. It blames Elward for higher water bills and gas prices. The ad points to a city vote she helped pass that raised rates for water projects in Rohnert Park. Those projects were meant to fix old tanks and pipes. The ad is not fair. Elward says the rate hike was needed to avoid bigger costs later. She explained that the city had no choice but to invest now. The commercial cuts her words, showing only a short line that says “pay now or pay more later. ” Who paid for the ad? A group called Grow California spent about half a million dollars. Grow was started by two wealthy crypto founders, Chris Larsen and Tim Draper. They want California’s legislature to be more friendly to technology firms. Larsen and Draper have also poured money into other races. They target candidates who support unions and progressive policies.Their goal is to shift the state’s lawmakers toward business interests. Elward called the attack “garbage. ” She said that the money poured into her campaign is meant to scare voters. She reminded people of the work she did on housing, homelessness, and clean energy in Rohnert Park. The 12th District covers all of Marin County and most of Sonoma County. It includes towns like Santa Rosa. Other candidates in the race are also facing ads from Grow California. Some, like John Erickson and Ada Briceño, have spoken out against the attacks. They say the money spent on negative ads is wasted and hurts voters. The big tech donors want to change California politics. They also support a plan that would tax billionaires in the state. Some voters are upset about how much money these donors spend on campaigns. Elward says she is not afraid. She believes that her record of helping working families will win people over. She says she has volunteers, teachers, nurses, and firefighters who know her work. The fight over the 12th Assembly seat shows how money can influence local politics. It also shows that voters care about fairness and real community needs.