Fremont Councilmember Vinnie Bacon’s main attack line in his bid for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in District 1 has been to label his opponent, Dublin Mayor David Haubert, as a former Republican in the deep blue East Bay.

To some degree, the distinction of Haubert, who was once a registered Republican, but now an independent, is causing some concern for Haubert’s supporters.

An independent expenditure group distributed a mailer last week to Fremont and Tri-Valley voters suggesting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom support Haubert.

The mailer, sent by a group calling itself “Preserving Agriculture in Alameda County” does not explicitly assert Biden and Newsom is backing Haubert, but large photographs of each on the mailer allows for the inference.

Independent expenditures committees are prohibited from coordinating their efforts in support or opposition to any given candidate. “Preserving Agriculture in Alameda County” does not yet show any campaign finance activity, according to the California Secretary of State’s office.

Bacon’s rhetoric slamming Haubert for being a former Republican, however, has fallen to the wayside down the stretch. Bacon, himself, has not always been a Democrat, but was a Green Party member early in his political career. 

But Bacon’s recent campaign literature does not spotlight Haubert’s former registration, despite the likelihood Alameda County Democrats will be voting in large numbers in order to unseat President Trump.

The attack line, with three weeks to go until Election Day, has been rendered more of a whisper campaign reserved for undecided Democrats.

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