Native American Tribes and Intuit Target Chiang

Six Southern California Native American tribal casino owners and software company Intuit have put together millions of dollars to orchestrate a campaign to defeat John Chiang for State Controller.

The six tribes are upset because the democratic leadership of the Assembly did not approve a bill that would increase their gambling operations. So the tribes, through an independent expenditure committee called Team 2006, have decided to support specific republican state constitutional officer candidates in retaliation. John Chiang has been selected as one of the targets, even though Chiang had no involvement with this legislative issue whatsoever.

Software giant Intuit is spending $1 million to defeat Chiang for a purely self-serving economic reason. Chiang supports "ReadyReturn," a free and easy online tax filing through pre-filled returns for single, low-income Californians. Intuit was successful in killing the "ReadyReturn" pilot program in the Legislature. According to the Los Angeles Times, "The program alarms Intuit. If it were to be fully implemented, ReadyReturn could threaten sales of one of the company’s most successful software programs: TurboTax."

It is even more disheartening that these stealth groups in one day can outspend what candidates themselves raise in an entire campaign.

The dastardly agenda of the Team 2006 tribes and Intuit is disappointing. As Assembly Member Judy Chu states: "If they want to punish state legislators who did not vote for their bill, that would be one thing. But demonstrating their political muscle by trying to defeat an outstanding candidate like John Chiang is just plain unfair."

John Chiang is already the highest-ranking Asian statewide-elected official, and the only candidate with a background in finance and tax policy. He has won practically every major newspaper endorsement, 29-2 at the last count. The endorsements universally point to Chiang’s far superior fiscal experience and touts his leadership skills in using bipartisan approaches to solve issues.

"It is truly remarkable that one special interest group could decide the outcome of an important state election because of an issue that has nothing to do with the candidates or the office involved," says Chiang who is fighting back in the media and up and down the state.

I believe Team 2006 seriously underestimated how significant John Chiang’s candidacy is to both the democrats and republicans of this community, the second fastest-growing population group and voter bloc in California. There is already evidence that this political move against Chiang has raised his profile in a positive way, and is causing a negative backlash for special interest groups involved.

The Team 2006 tribes have squandered years of relationship building with a strong ally. This community has an expansive memory and is tired of being considered "easy pickings." Let’s see how this community responds to these six tribes when they need public support or the help of legislators who represent a large number of APA constituents in their district the next time around.

Please vote Nov. 7!