A group of fed-up techies and “radical centrists” is launching a counteroffensive to what they call an out-of-touch lefty agenda that’s driving people out of California.
An event in Mountain View, Calif. — home to Alphabet, Waymo and other tech giants — drew San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and other moderate Democrats alonsgside hundreds of raucous attendees who vowed to “take back” California from unions and other special interests.
“Some people have decided to leave our state as some kind of heroic thing. Like, ‘I’m going to Florida,”” Ripple chariman Chris Larsen told the crowd, alluding to billionaires who have packed their bags over a union-backed 5% wealth tax.
“That is not brave. That’s surrender,” he said.
“So let’s get involved — let’s take back our state.”
The Wednesday night event was hosted by Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, who launched a nonpartisan nonprofit called Garry’s List that will act as a “citizen’s union” to support candidates like Mahan, Jenkins and other “centrists” who care about improving schools, housing and public safety, he told reporters.
“They have a machine, now we have one too,” Tan said.
Tan slammed politicians like billionaire activist Tom Steyer, whom he accused of trying to “buy the governor’s mansion to raise your taxes.”
Tan, a Democrat and vocal critic of progressive policies in San Francisco, introduced Mahan as the “next governor of California” hopes to oust Silicon Valley Rep. Ro Khanna, who’s facing a challenge from tech entrepreneur Ethan Agarwal.
The roughly 350 attendees who gathered at Y Combinator were handed Garry’s List membership cards and broken into groups for strategizing purposes. Participants included tech professionals, political candidates, and organizers.
Larsen said the group is not anti-union but rather intended as a counterweight to the influence of labor on elected officials.
“We’ve got to fight on par with the unions when they’re proposing stupid job-killing ideas like the San Francisco CEO tax,” Larsen told the crowd.
“Sadly enough, I just found out that Tom Steyer, [Eric] Swalwell and Katie Porter … are supporting the unions in that San Francisco CEO tax,” he said.
“It’s really disappointing, but what it shows is the pressure that unions are putting on our leaders, right?”
Garry’s List is one of several newly formed political groups aiming to challenge what they consider a dysfunctional status quo in California.
The billionaire tax was a galvanizing force for Larsen and other billionaires, like Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who have committed millions to support friendly candidates and ballot measures this year and beyond.
Larsen and fellow crypto baron Tim Draper formed Grow California, which will deploy some $40 million to support “pragmatic” candidates willing to tackle problems like affordability.
Brin, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, venture capitalist Michael Moritz and other tech bosses collectively raised more than $45 million for a separate committee called Building a Better California, which will spend millions on tax reform and pro-development initiatives.
Garry’s List is raising seven figures primarily for voter education efforts, such as a blog authored by Tan with the help of artificial intelligence. The site has launched with content critical of the San Francisco teachers strike, wealth taxes, and NIMBYism.
