Two groups with bottomless cash are clobbering each other in the governor’s race, and the latest punch involves allegations of campaign finance violations. The heavyweight bout between billionaire candidate Tom Steyer and Pacific Gas & Electric started in earnest in April after the company plowed millions into an anti-Steyer PAC.

On Tuesday, Steyer’s campaign sent a complaint to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, claiming that PG&E has flouted campaign rules as it attacks him over his stance on private utilities, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Power Play. 

“I am writing to respectfully request that your office launch an investigation into a campaign finance scheme perpetrated by some of the most powerful special-interest groups in Sacramento,” the letter from Steyer’s attorney Ryan Hughes states. “PG&E appears to view Tom Steyer as an existential threat to its corporate profits and has spent heavily to prevent his election as governor.”

The Steyer camp, whose campaign has been fueled by $120 million of the candidate’s own money, is alleging two sins: that PG&E and two affiliated committees did not disclose they were using one entity to pass $8 million to another that runs anti-Steyer ads, and that the ads did not show PG&E as its largest funder. The ads have painted Steyer as an out-of-touch rich guy whose reforms would make life more expensive for Californians. 

The Steyer vs. PG&E battle is no surprise: He has promised an adversarial relationship with the company and other investor-owned utilities, capitalizing on the frustration Californians  feel over high electricity prices. Steyer has claimed he can bring down electricity costs by 25% and has vowed to appoint critics of the utilities to the California Public Utilities Commission, among other ideas that have pissed off PG&E. 

The company set its sights on Steyer in early April, soon after he saw an upswing in the polls following the collapse of former Rep. Eric Swalwell amid allegations of sexual assault.

PG&E deferred comment to California Is Not for Sale, the group behind the anti-Steyer ads. Its spokesperson, Amelia Matier, wrote, “Steyer’s complaint is sensational nonsense to try to grab headlines.” The FPPC declined to comment on the allegations. The attorney general’s office, which the Steyer campaign also notified about the allegations, did not respond to a request for comment. — Gabe Greschler

Got tips? Reach out at [email protected].

TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL: San Francisco Democrats may condemn congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti for his “Change the Party” rally Thursday with former New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman and controversial influencer Hasan Piker.

Piker is a political commentator who can appeal to the manosphere audience and is sometimes considered the left’s answer to podcaster Joe Rogan. He has taken heat for remarks some have derided (opens in new tab) as hateful, such as, “Hamas is a thousand times better” than Israel and “I donʼt have an issue with Hezbollah,” as well as a diatribe against a Vietnamese woman. 

Supervisor Matt Dorsey seems furious that Chakrabarti would give Piker a local platform. In a resolution he authored (opens in new tab) for the San Francisco Democratic Party, Dorsey called on the congressional candidate to “publicly acknowledge Hamas to be a genocidal terrorist organization” and to explain to San Francisco voters why his views do not align with Piker’s.

The resolution’s call-out of the “Change the Party” rally we’ll quote verbatim: “RESOLVED, the San Francisco Democratic Party rejects any effort to ‘change’ our Democratic Party into a movement that accommodates or in any way condones Hasan Pikerʼs divisive brand of anti-American, antisemitic, anti-AAPI, terrorist-coddling, hate-espousing, misogynist, xenophobic, obscene, and politically repellent viewpoints, urging Mr. Piker and his supporters to pursue the formation of their own party and to get out of ours.”

Yowch. Given that the SF Dems have voted to endorse (opens in new tab) state Sen. Scott Wiener in the congressional race, they’ll no doubt vote to approve this too. 

For what it’s worth, even Gov. Gavin Newsom would apparently be game (opens in new tab) to appear on Piker’s stream. And New York Times columnist Ezra Klein argued that Piker isn’t a “Jew hater” but is anti-Zionist at a time when Americans’ views on Israel are evolving. Canceling Piker, and others like him, shows Democrats’ failure to meet manosphere-curious voters where they’re at, Klein wrote (opens in new tab).

“It’s not just that cancellation has failed to silence those it targeted; it also weakened those who used it,” he wrote.

— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez

TRANSITION IN THE FILLMORE: A beloved Fillmore-based community center could soon have a new tenant after the organization that occupied the space got wrapped up in a City Hall scandal.

Collective Impact, which was established in 2007 and provided neighborhood services in the historically Black Western Addition, is essentially defunct, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood told Power Play. The nonprofit’s former executive director, James Spingola, was charged in a corruption probe in March as part of the investigation into ex-Human Rights Commission chief Sheryl Davis. 

Collective Impact’s HQ was at the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center at Webster and McAllister streets, named for the trailblazing Black supervisor.

The group’s exit left an opportunity for a new tenant at the community center, which has a playground, gym, classroom, garden, and tennis courts. This led Mahmood and Mayor Daniel Lurie to propose that Booker T. Washington Community Service Center receive a 13-month lease at Ella Hill Hutch, which is owned by the city. The deal, subject to the approval of the Board of Supervisors, would mean that Booker T. Washington would provide services starting in June, such as summer camp, after-school programming, and case management. 

“Assuming stewardship of the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center is not just an operational transition; it is a promise that the children, families, and seniors who depend on these critical services will not lose access to care,” said Shakirah Simley, executive director of Booker T. Washington.

Collective Impact reps did not respond to a request for comment. The city plans to put out a bid for a longer-term occupant at Ella Hill Hutch. — G.G.

SAY IT AGAIN: Chakrabarti popped by The Standard for a wide-ranging interview Tuesday. One observation from the conversation: His reverence for his time working for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not been diminished by the fact that she has ghosted him. Her endorsement could give him an edge over his rival, Wiener.

Seeing as how AOC has refused to even say Chakrabarti’s name — not even a simple “he was nice to work with!” — we decided to flip the script and count how many times he referred to her. 

In our hourlong interview, he either said her name or referred to her 14 times.

We made an exception for the moments when we explicitly asked about his relationship with AOC, because that would just be cheating. However, in discussions about writing the Green New Deal, his campaigning philosophy, and how to exercise power in Congress, he made so many references to AOC you’d think he was getting paid for each mention. Not that he needs the money.

And about the bombshell claims (opens in new tab) from a former staffer for Rep. Nancy Pelosi that AOC fired Chakrabarti? He had words about that too. 

“He’s speculating and lying,” Chakrabarti countered. “I had a baby on the way in July 2019, planned my transition out, trained up my successor at the time, and left on good terms.”

For what it’s worth, Power Play spoke to former AOC staffers who verified this. Corbin Trent, AOC’s former comms director (opens in new tab) and a friend of Chakrabarti, was adamant.

“That’s not what happened,” he said. “It’s not a secondhand account. It’s not supposition. It’s a thing I was party to and witnessed with my ears and eyes.”

In fact, he added, “she offered and asked him to stay. In my presence.”

And all that does is make AOC’s silence on Chakrabarti even more mystifying. — J. F. R.