True Colors

Giselle Hale (Chron photo)

Giselle Hale is dropping out of the race for Assemblyman due to vicious attack ads that have distressed her young family. No, the attacks are not coming from Republicans but from the campaign of Diane Papan, her only opponent and a fellow Democrat.

Hale, the mayor of Redwood City and a progressive Democrat, shocked California political observers with the decision. In June, Hale just narrowly secured the second spot on the ballot to run for the 21st District Assembly seat in the Nov. 8 election.

Her race against Diane Papan, deputy mayor of San Mateo, was expected to be one of the most contentious Democrat-on-Democrat contests for the Legislature this fall. Now, Papan is all but guaranteed to be the next Assembly member to represent the district, which includes San Mateo County and several affluent Silicon Valley suburbs south of San Francisco.

Diane Papan

Papan finished first in the June primary, with 41% of the vote. Hale narrowly edged out Republican Mark Gilham for second place, with 19.8% of the vote, compared with 19.5% for Gilham...

Hale said she faced the “full force” of a roughly $1.2 million negative ad campaign, including mailers that showed up in her mailbox almost daily. One ad criticized her for auditioning for “The Apprentice,” former President Donald Trump’s old reality TV show. Another criticized her for being registered as a “no party preference” voter in the past.

In a state where the Democratic Party holds all state-wide offices and both houses in the legislature the voters must often choose between two Democrats in the November finals, the consequence of the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act. For example, in 2016 Kamala Harris (D) defeated Loretta Sanchez (D) when Barbara Boxer retired from the U.S. Senate.

Both Diane Papan and Giselle Hale are white, middle-aged liberal women who are the mayor or deputy mayor of cities in San Mateo County. One might well have thought that their personal and political similarities might have lessened the polarization we see almost everywhere else and resulted in a respectful, even muted campaign.

Sorry to disappoint. When power, wealth, and privilege are at stake, true colors often emerge.