SEIU 1000 Backs Swalwell for Governor — And The Pay-To-Play System Rolls On
My Latest Column For The California Post Looks At How A Powerful Government Union’s Endorsement Reveals The Way California’s Political Machine Really Works.
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When The Political Machine Moves
I have a new opinion piece up at the California Post examining a revealing moment in the early stages of California’s next governor’s race.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the most powerful forces in California politics, has endorsed Rep. Eric Swalwell for governor. On the surface, it looks like a routine political endorsement.
But in California politics, endorsements from major government unions are never just symbolic gestures.
SEIU represents hundreds of thousands of public-sector and health-care workers and spends enormous sums influencing elections across the state. When the union backs a candidate, it brings money, volunteers, field operations, and credibility to Democratic politics.
In other words, it moves the machinery.
In my California Post column, I walk through why this endorsement matters, how it fits into the broader dynamics of the Democratic primary, and what it reveals about the long-standing political arrangement between California’s elected officials and the government unions that help put them in power.
I also revisit one of the central realities of California politics: the same public-employee unions that help elect politicians often end up negotiating taxpayer-funded contracts with those same officials once they are in office.
That dynamic has shaped the state’s political system for decades — and the Swalwell endorsement offers a fresh reminder of how it works.
You can read the full column at the California Post HERE.
And if you need a reminder of the insidious problem with public employee unions, you’ll find that HERE.