California Ballot Breakdown

Turning cash into clout: Prop 22, in-app arm-twisting, and the California NAACP

The push to lock gig drivers in independent contractor status has drawn more spending than any ballot initiative in California history. The companies financing it–Uber, Lyft, Doordash, Instacart, and Postmates–are also using their own apps to advertise, arm-twist, and cajole. Ariel Boone has a report looking at how they’re re-writing the playbook for turning cash into clout.
Plus: California NAACP President Alice Huffman has her name attached to ballot arguments and endorsements that are pretty much the opposite of what you’d expect from a storied civil rights organization. This may have something to do with the nearly $2 million her political consulting firm has collected from the campaigns whose positions she’s endorsed.

  • 8:18 Laurel Rosenhall covers politics and power for Calmatters

Music credits:

T Shirt Weather” by Poddington Bear, used under CC BY-NC 3.0 US

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