Underepresented Independents Have More Power Than One Thinks

(SAN RAMON) --- Anyone who knows me will tell you I am independent.

I have a proven record of leadership, founding, and managing multi-million dollar businesses. I note this because it is only appropriate that I launch my run for California Assembly District 16 as an Independent candidate.

I am sharing a video I made a month ago about my political stance, different from my mayoral run in 2024.

Though I ran as a Democrat then, noted in the Wildcat Tribune, my platform then and now remains ensuring everyone's voice is heard.

I note in my video that in 2024, the mayoral race was shaping up to be unopposed, so I stepped in at the last moment, only to witness something troubling: Democratic and progressive Democratic council members endorsing a Republican mayoral candidate, seemingly for political leverage.

I also express in the video that I believe unopposed races are toxic to democracy. After the race in 2024, I founded OpGov.ai to create community-inspired news to make the difference I knew I could.

It worked. OpGov.ai not only shows the hyperlocal issues here but also reveals the same patterns across the country—specifically, unopposed races, as seen in Pensacola, Florida.

The disturbing pattern has only gotten worse since my 2024 concerns, as noted in the Danville San Ramon.

That hasn't changed, as seen in this report I put out last week, which has already garnered over 1K hits.

I hope that all who read it consider challenging so many officials who have already won if nobody steps up.

If we don't challenge, they reduce accountability and weaken voter participation, as I explain in a full video on how unopposed races can hurt voter turnout and disengage communities.

Additionally, as I explain in the video, San Ramon passed a "text amendment" that removed references to legal requirements, the required number of meetings, and the supermajority clause, without meaningful discussion, under the banner of "streamlining state requirements."

And that's just one example.

Time and again, we raised issues with elected representatives, only to realize a bigger truth: independent voters and voices are effectively unrepresented.

That's why I'm running as an independent: to represent the common concerns of everyday community members, not party machinery or political deals.

Call me an underdog, which I prefer as it is my mascot, but please note that while doing so, all these independent underdogs won the race. GoodParty puts out a great list of candidates who did what many said they could not do.