While most Californians spent this past Memorial Day weekend with family and reflecting on those who have given their lives in the service of our country, our biggest polluters and profiteers were at it again….dumping enormous amounts of money into campaigns to defeat more progressive candidates in several key state senate districts.
We’ve previously exposed these huge corporate players from behind such Orwellian titles as “Californians for Civil Justice Reform”—which is funded primarily by oil, tobacco, development, pharmaceuticals and financial interests, “Californians for Progress and Education” comprised primarily of real estate and development money, in addition to insurance and medical industries, and “Californians for Jobs and a Prosperous Economy” (the anti-consumer people plus the Association of Motor Car Dealers)–to name some of the larger groups injecting Democratic races with money from big oil, tobacco and other disfavored industries.
In deciding who represent progressive values and will fight for them in public office, we’ve provided you with the latest updates on who is spending big money, and where it’s going:

In the 10th Senate District—-East Bay: (where overtly business-friendly John Dutra is running to defeat progressive candidates)these groups have now dropped in over $684,000 to smear Ellen Corbett and prop- up former Republican Dutra), with more big money to come, we’re sure………
In the 20th Senate District:—- San Fernando Valley: with progressive Cindy Montanez running against Alex Padilla, the so-called, “Californians Allied for a Prosperous Economy” Committee (mostly the Car Dealers who don’t like that Cindy has been pursuing auto-dealer reforms while in the Assembly) has put in over $120,000 to push Padilla’s candidacy.
In the 28th Senate District—–Long Beach: a feverishly pitched battle where Progressive candidate Jenny Oropeza is running against the more heavily -funded George Nakano. Real estate and big-business groups have plunked down over $300,000 in Independent Expenditures for Nakano this month alone. The winner of this race will replace strong voting-system protector and environmental and privacy advocate, Deb Bowen,who is now running for Secretary of State.
In the 30th Senate District—–East LA: where openly avowed “Business Dem” Ron Calderon is running against Rudy Bermudez, the big business groups have put in over $400,000 to date to win this seat for Calderon, a seat that has been held by the persistent consumer-protector, Martha Escutia.
In the 34th Senate District—–Orange Count: big-business sympathizer Lou Correa is getting hundreds of thousand of dollars from these same big business interests in his run against Tom Umberg. To date, Correa has pulled in close to $400,000 from these Committees—– They’re fighting to replace hard-driving Joe Dunn who helped crack the Enron fiasco in California.
And the money keeps pouring in from oil, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, developers, banks, etc. The question is:
Why are these big business groups, often the nemesis of Democratic playing in Democratic primary races?????
The answer is clear.
They want to defeat progressive candidates who will put people and planet over profits!
We’ll continue to keep you posted on these races and the latest breaking stories to insure California’s progressive voter has all the information necessary to vote this coming week.
And don’t forget to go to our Voter Guide for key information about the major races on the ballot this coming Tuesday, June 6th.speakoutca.org/now/2006primary.php