Drive to Ensure No Race Goes Unchallenged (Part 2)

Democracy's designed to keep checks and balances.

One way it does it is by making it easier for people to run for office. There is a huge open window during which the available positions to run are announced and then closed.

Here, we are not talking about unpaid positions.

These are highly paying, more on the "Progressive Media Not Questioning Unopposed Races." No Media is actually covering right now, as many may go unopposed this year, as in all previous years.

So I took a novel approach and sent out Mass Texts to all voters in my Congressional District, and I am running through.

The message is Simple.
"I'm Chirag Kathrani, a candidate for State Assembly District 16, which is now practically unrepresented.

Over the past few years, 62% of races in the Bay Area have gone unopposed, including many high-impact, high-paying offices. Some important filing deadlines close on March 4, 2026, so please connect as soon as possible, or if you know someone who can run, please share this with them.

This year, too many races are still going unopposed:

https://opgov.ai/articles/progressive-media-does-not-question-unopposed-races

Unopposed races can make representatives act like rulers rather than public servants. That's one of the reasons I decided to run, as I explain here:

https://opgov.ai/articles/district-16-deserves-representation-chirag-kathrani-announces-assembly-run

If you have even 1% interest in running, or just want to learn how the process works, there are resources and support available, and I'd be happy to walk you through it. I'm also looking for volunteers who can help research community concerns and develop solutions that can be turned into strong policies.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Chirag Kathrani

Independent Candidate for State Assembly District 16

Contact: (925) 435-7161

Book time with me:

https://calendly.com/chirag-lead4earth/30min

My articles:

https://opgov.ai/editor/chirag-kathrani

Let's make unopposed races history, starting with the Bay Area."

Since this message, I have had plenty of people show interest in Singing Up.

Suzanne Chenault will represent Congressional District 14 as an Independent.

Five other candidates are filing.

Here, I am taking an example from the Contra Costa County Tax Collector.

Here we see the County Clerk Recorder.

Only one applicant who is currently holding this role.

This makes it possible for anyone to put their name in, pay the ~$2,700 filing fee in the next few days, and challenge them, with a 50% chance of winning.

Shamefully, the entire media is completely dark on this fundamental problem in Democracy.

Media, one of the three pillars of Democracy, is dead right here in Silicon Valley, where the largest media giants call it home, like Google, Meta, San Francisco Chronicle, Mercury News, KQED, etc.

For the people reading this, County Clerk-Recorder role is highly responsible and not a regular job, but it's for a boss role.

Also, don't need any specific degree.

After this massive outreach my calender was booked for days, we now have at least 6 new people running for office now, who have never previously considered.

During this outreach many questions I wanted to address.

1. 1. Eligibility: Varies based on roles. But most require registered voters living in the place they plan to represent.

2. 2. Filing fees: 1% of the annual salary as the signature in Lieu closed on Feb 4th.

3. 3. Campaign Cost :

4. Voter Database : $65 where you get voter role and can legally to the outreach, to 60% voters who have contact email and or phone number.

5. Yard Signs : Costs around $8-10 each based on local quotes of minimum 100 quantity.

6. Web and Email Campaign cost : ~2,000
   Candidate Statement : If you chose to have a candidate statement sent to all voters in the candidate info packet it costs ~3 cents for each page to voters.
   Fund Raising : Most cost could be recovered via fundraising.

Over the past few days, I have met many, one of the interesting meeting was with Jim Johnson from Livermore who campaigned for many elected officials.

While I believe 6 people running in Alameda and Contra Costa County the most important race will be Suzzanne Chenault for House of Representative as an Independent so now we are giving independents a choice in this election. In this interview we have recorded from the time we met to her decision to run for House of Representatives.