Jones supporters raise doubts about Ashby, oil donors’ motivations; Donors always get their way

An independent expenditure committee supporting California State Senate District 8 candidate Dave Jones has distributed a mailer asking questions raised by voters and constituents. The question is, what are donors’ motivations?

The mailer shows a man belly-laughing, sarcastically saying, “TRUST ME… BIG OIL isn’t expecting anything in return from Angelique Ashby for investing $1,2000,000 to get her elected to the State Senate.”

It is a question often asked by voters and avoided by elected officials – do campaign donations influence legislation? In short, they do have a great influence on legislation on all levels of government.

As most political observers and voters know, campaign donations are influential in a couple of ways.

First, when the donors come knocking on the door of an elected official, they expect strong consideration for their legislation goals. Because of the financial support, officials who were beneficiaries of their donors’ largess typically abide with the donors’ demands.

Now, if the legislative official bulks, the campaign supporters will say, remember how we helped you get elected? Well, we can recruit another candidate and do to you what we helped you do to your opponent.

Either way, well-funded donors always get their way.

With the state’s goal of having all new vehicles electric in just over a decade, Big Oil’s California cash cow faces an existential threat. No wonder they are pouring even more money than usual into candidates who they believe will support their businesses.