{"id":887,"date":"2026-05-31T12:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T12:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887"},"modified":"2026-05-31T12:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T12:09:09","slug":"tech-billionaires-uber-and-meta-spend-in-senate-district-10-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887","title":{"rendered":"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

At least one candidate in the June 2 primary race to replace State Sen. Aisha Wahab is raking in millions in financial support. Not from grassroots efforts, but from major tech companies and billionaires.<\/p>\n

Read more Brentwood man was caught up in Oakland couple\u2019s deadly breakup, testimony reveals<\/a><\/p>\n

Union City Councilmember Scott Sakakihara, a former Palantir executive, has received over $3 million in support from political action committees tied to Uber, Meta, and tech billionaires Chris Larsen and Tim Draper, according to independent expenditure reports from the Federal Elections Commission.<\/p>\n

Sakakihara also loaned his campaign for Senate District 10, which covers parts of Alameda and Santa Clara counties, a total of $1 million of his own money, most recently giving himself $250,000 on May 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure we have the resources we need, whether it\u2019s funding or otherwise, to run a strong campaign,\u201d Sakakihara told this news organization. \u201cI do think this is a really important election.\u201d<\/p>\n

In support of Sakakihara, Uber has spent over $1 million in TV ads, media production, and polling. Meta bought mailers and digital ads totaling over $966,000. Larsen and Draper\u2019s Grow California PAC spent over $1 million in ads, consulting, and research.<\/p>\n

Opposing candidates questioned Sakakihara\u2019s self-funding and the tech interests supporting him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy interpretation is, by the millions being spent trying to buy this seat, that I\u2019m perceived as a threat,\u201d candidate Anne Kepner, a West Valley-Mission College Board trustee, told this news organization Friday. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly the problem, and the reason I\u2019m running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kepner, a consumer attorney who has previously taken companies such as Uber to court, said, \u201csometimes, I think we\u2019re defined by our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

PACs representing nurses and labor unions that spent over $505,000 in support of Kepner have been outpaced by other PACs representing businesses that spent nearly $550,000 opposing her campaign. This includes hundreds of thousands spent by the Californians For Consumer Protection Against Anne Kepner For SD10 PAC and JobsPAC, a political arm of the California Chamber of Commerce and other pro-business interests.<\/p>\n

Read more Alameda County approves non-binding agreement for Oakland Coliseum sale<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s who my enemies are, it\u2019s all the more reason that I feel it highlights who I am and what my candidacy is about,\u201d Kepner said. \u201cIt\u2019s about putting people over profits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakakihara said he doesn\u2019t know Larsen or Draper personally. He said the millions spent by companies and billionaires are part of \u201cbattles that predate me that start to resurface in a race like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Jose City Councilmember David Cohen, who is also running for the seat, said, \u201cI suspect for some, this amount of spending is problematic,\u201d and called the tech companies\u2019 independent expenditures \u201coverkill that I think actually backfires in terms of what voters think of a candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s an obscene amount of money that Scott is putting into the race out of his own pocket,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cI think anybody spending a million dollars out of their own pocket to try to buy a race should be looked at with skepticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen, who has the most political experience compared to Sakakihara and Kepner, said he was being \u201chelped and supported by grassroots, and not by large political interests who are trying to buy influence in Sacramento.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent a decade of actually fighting on the front lines against the abuses of this Trump administration and ICE, while my opponents have not been involved, or in some cases have actually been enabling that behavior,\u201d Cohen said, referring to Sakakihara\u2019s former Palantir ties.<\/p>\n

Palantir has drawn widespread public criticism for aiding ICE\u2019s deportation efforts. Sakakihara said those actions led him to quit the company last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very consistent in what my priorities are,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been very consistent that what ICE is doing is terrible and what the Trump administration is doing more broadly targeting vulnerable communities is reprehensible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Asking Eric: My wife\u2019s children might wreck our marriage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott Sakakihara catches criticism from opponents over support from wealthy tech interests<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-california-politics","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nTech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Scott Sakakihara catches criticism from opponents over support from wealthy tech interests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-31T12:09:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T12:09:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887\"},\"wordCount\":677,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/61e2b013a94ca89bd6d7f2ecf74cf5b6.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"California Politics\",\"News\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887\",\"name\":\"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/61e2b013a94ca89bd6d7f2ecf74cf5b6.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T12:09:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/61e2b013a94ca89bd6d7f2ecf74cf5b6.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/61e2b013a94ca89bd6d7f2ecf74cf5b6.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=887#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race - Next City Digest","og_description":"Scott Sakakihara catches criticism from opponents over support from wealthy tech interests","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-05-31T12:09:09+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race","datePublished":"2026-05-31T12:09:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887"},"wordCount":677,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/61e2b013a94ca89bd6d7f2ecf74cf5b6.webp","articleSection":["California Politics","News","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887","name":"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/61e2b013a94ca89bd6d7f2ecf74cf5b6.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-31T12:09:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/61e2b013a94ca89bd6d7f2ecf74cf5b6.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/61e2b013a94ca89bd6d7f2ecf74cf5b6.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=887#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tech billionaires, Uber, and Meta spend in Senate District 10 race"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}