By Roberta Millstein
[Note: This letter first appeared in the Davis Enterprise, here].
Would you vote for a congressional candidate who had endorsed a variety of Republican positions while at the same time touting his progressive credentials and connections to candidates like Ro Khanna? Someone who: advocated for “immigration reform” for a “secure border”, said he was “ashamed” of Prop 50, called for “sunsetting” federal programs, donated to Republican politicians including a member of the Bush family?
What if you learned that he had, in a very short amount of time, flip-flopped his views on important issues such as data centers and Medicare for All? What if you found out that he had distributed two versions of the same flyer on the same block of the same street, one for Republicans and one for Democrats?
What if you further learned that he had no political track record to back up his ever-changing political promises? That he had been a partner at a Silicon Valley venture capital firm for 8 years (12 in total), allowing him to dump $5 million of his own money into his campaign? And that on top of that, former colleagues and associates from the same firm continue to dump millions more into his congressional campaign, including a Super PAC, a legal but shady way to skirt campaign donation limits? (If you’ve been deluged with mailers, flyers, and intrusive texts, now you know why).
Citizens of Congressional District 4, the candidate described above is Eric Jones, recently resigned from Dragoneer Investment Group. He would represent the interests of out-of-district tech oligarchs — resisting needed protective regulations at every turn — rather than the interests of ordinary citizens, whether Republican or Democratic.
What if you were to further learn that there was another candidate, Mike Thompson, who has seniority and thus power to wield in the House, who has a proven and known political track record, who has deep roots in our district along with military service, who has legislative accomplishments in areas as diverse as affordability, climate change, agriculture and fishing, preventing gun violence, and supporting veterans?
It’s an easy choice, friends. Vote for Mike Thompson for Congress.
