Collecting Campaign Cash is Not a Progressive Value

“Jesse Gabriel announced that his campaign has raised more than $500,000 for the upcoming April 3rd Special Election.”

- Jesse Gabriel

What do the former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s adviser David Crane, “symbol of the greed and money of the tech sector” Ron Conway and WalMart Chairman Greg Penner have in common? They are co-founders of Govern for California, an independent expenditure committee that seeks “to influence elections for the California Legislature under the state’s new top-two primary system”. Their efforts are focused on supporting moderates and Republicans. One of their beneficiaries has been Jesse Gabriel, who is running in Tuesday’s special election for Matt Dababneh’s seat.

Gabriel claims to be a “progressive for the Valley”, but his acceptance of this source of funding calls into question his commitment to progressive values. His website indicates that he accepts the premise that “access to quality healthcare is a right, not a privilege”, but his funders opposed a bridge to single payer. Instead, they promoted a move “away from fee-for-service reimbursement” and attacked health care providers. Gabriel claims that he…