I’ve been pretty outspoken about my support for Lt. Governor and former San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom’s (D. CA) gubernatorial campaign. But even though I live in Los Angeles, here’s a big a reason why I cannot support my former Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa’s (D. CA) gubernatorial campaign:
As he competes for one of the top two places in the June 5 primary for governor and a spot in the fall runoff, the former Los Angeles mayor is being backed by education reformers and charter school advocates looking to put an ally in the state’s top job. The state’s teachers unions are spending big to try to elect Villaraigosa’s fellow Democrat Gavin Newsom.
Teachers at charter schools typically don’t belong to unions, and public employee unions are among California Democrats’ most reliable funding sources — making Villaraigosa and his support of charters something of an outlier in the party.
In the 24 years since his first election to the Assembly, Villaraigosa has been what could be described as a moderate maverick when it comes to education — passionate about public schools, supportive of choice and charter schools, and critical of teachers unions for their support of such policies as tenure and layoffs by seniority.
A pro-charter political group has given Villaraigosa’s gubernatorial campaign a big boost in recent weeks, raising more than $16 million to put ads on TV statewide. Its largest donors are three billionaires — Netflix founder Reed Hastings, entrepreneur philanthropist Eli Broad and venture capitalist William Oberndorf.
“In every facet of (Villaraigosa’s) life ... he’s worked to improve our public schools in California,” said Gary Borden, executive director of the California Charter School Association Advocates, the independent expenditure group. “For him, it’s real, it’s honest and part of who he is.”
The charter group is trying to push Villaraigosa closer in the polls to front-runner Newsom, who has the backing of teachers unions and other education establishment groups that have raised about $6.5 million for the gubernatorial campaign.
Here’s another pro-charter school billionaire backing Villaraigosa:
Mike Bloomberg has plopped down $1.5 million to help elect former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as California’s next governor.
Bloomberg wrote the seven-figure check to a PAC called Families & Teachers for Villaraigosa, a big supporter of charter schools.
That’s a big issue for Bloomberg, who championed charter schools as an option for students during his three terms as New York City’s mayor.
To keep Villaraigosa out of the top two spots, Newsom has been treating the race like he’s more likely to face off against a Republican than Villaraigosa:
This strategy could help down the road if Villaraigosa does finish second and needs the votes of serious Republicans in a general election battle with Newsom, who is being backed by most progressive political organizations. Team Villaraigosa caught a break recently when the California Republican State Convention failed to make an endorsement for Cox or Allen, leaving both of them fighting for the same relatively small pool of voters. But now Donald Trump has jumped into the race with an endorsement of Cox, so the race for second could be close.
A Survey USA poll taken shortly after the pro-Villaraigosa ad blitz began showed him regaining some ground and moving ahead of Cox. But the buzz about his wealthy backers could present a problem; it’s hard to say, since California’s voting is increasingly tilted toward mail ballots, which are already being returned.
Tactical maneuvering abounds. Newsom ran an ad attacking Cox that was widely thought to be aimed at helping him among Republicans by stressing his solidarity with Trump and the NRA. This accords with the private views of some progressives who want to sideline Villaraigosa’s wealthy backers so that they can devote their own resources to Kevin de Leon’s challenge to Senator Dianne Feinstein. But some Democrats who will ultimately back Newsom could vote for Villaraigosa in order to keep the general election an all-Democratic affair. That was one problem faced in the 2016 U.S. Senate race by Democrat Loretta Sanchez, who finished a solid second in the primary but did poorly in the general election against Kamala Harris. Like Newsom, Harris was a progressive from the Bay Area; like Villaraigosa, Sanchez was a Latino candidates from L.A. Villaraigosa is also being hammered by a third Democratic candidate, State Treasurer John Chiang, who is showing some upward movement in the polls.
It will all play out in just a short week-and-a-half. But if Antonio Villaraigosa does make the “top two,” one of the big questions will be exactly how far some of the deepest pockets in the country are willing to dig to take their battle all the way to November — and whether their candidate pays a political price for their support.
June 5th is the top-two primary. Let’s make sure Newsom remains the first pick. Click here to donate and get involved with Newsom’s campaign.