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 JoseMayor Matt Mahan, San Francisco District AttorneyBrooke Jenkinsand 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 whohave packed their bagsover 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 CEOGarry 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 likebillionaire 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 fromtech 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.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
