Is Jim Cooper inadvertently hurting political ally Stephanie Nguyen's Assembly prospects?
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| Could Jim Cooper's attacks on Jim Barnes be reinforcing negative portrayals of Stephanie Nguyen? | | |
For many voters in Sacramento County and especially in the heavily Democratic California Assembly 10th District, the mention of former President Donald Trump is catnip. Among candidates tying Trump to an opponent is California Assemblymember and Sacramento County Sheriff candidate Jim Cooper.
Cooper has tied his opponent Sacramento County Undersheriff Jim Barnes, to Trump in several mailers. Barnes is an ally of current Sheriff Scott Jones, who has supported the former President.
In a mailer received yesterday, Cooper reminds Democratic voters he is the only Democrat in the race and is headlined with "A vote for Trump Republican Jim Barnes: A vote for a failed past."
Interestingly, on the same day Cooper targeted Democratic voters, independent expenditure committee mailers attacked Elk Grove City Councilmember and 10th California Assembly candidate Stephanie Nguyen. As with other attacks launched against Nguyen, this was sponsored by the California Association of Realtors.
The headline says, "Scott Jones stood with Trump to attack Sacramento's laws protecting immigrants...and then Stephanie Nguyen endorsed him." In a separate mailer also received yesterday, the CAR also promoted Nguyen as a "Republican Values" candidate even though she is campaigning as a Democrat.
There was also another CAR mailer received yesterday on police reform. Even though there were no substantive calls for reform of the Elk Grove Police Department, the mailer says she ignored calls for police reform and then accepted thousands of dollars in law enforcement campaign contributions.
While CAR has attacked Nguyen on law enforcement support, she had embraced her public safety endorsements in several mailers. Nguyen's emphasis seems to be targeting Republican and moderate Democratic voters.
While they have been longtime political allies, Cooper's attack on Barnes could inadvertently reinforce the narrative that Nguyen is not a Democrat and, worse, by association, supports Trump. With an expected low voter turnout, it will be noteworthy to see what effects tying Nguyen to Jones and Trump has on the primary vote tally.
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