BayAreaGOP August 2026 Newsletter

August 2026 Newsletter

Luis Buhler, Publisher

A Winnable Fight: Stopping the Regional Transit Tax This November

by Marc Joffe

This November, voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties will decide on the largest regional tax increase in Bay Area history. The measure, authorized by Scott Wiener’s Senate Bill 63, would raise sales taxes by half a percentage point in four counties and a full percentage point in San Francisco for fourteen years, extracting roughly $1 billion annually from Bay Area consumers to subsidize BART, Muni, Caltrain, AC Transit, SamTrans, VTA and other agencies.

The Committee for Affordable Bay Area Transit (CABAT) is leading the opposition, and our case is straightforward. First, this is a regressive tax. Sales taxes fall hardest on working families who spend most of what they earn, and several Bay Area cities already have combined rates above 10 percent. Second, the agencies seeking this bailout have refused to right-size themselves. Ridership remains far below pre-pandemic levels, yet transit operators have preserved bloated payrolls, with hundreds of BART employees collecting total compensation packages well into six figures. Third, taxpayers already contribute generously: Bay Area transit agencies collect billions in subsidies each year while covering only a small fraction of their costs at the farebox. . . . read more

----

Marc Joffe is President of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association.

SPARC presents

Annual Picnic Celebrating America's 250th

featuring Sonja Shaw

Candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Sunday, August 16, 2026 / 4:00 - 7:00 pm

Blackberry Farm

21979 San Fernando Avenue, Cupertino

The South Peninsula Area Republican Coalition (SPARC) invites you to join them for their Annual Summer BBQ and America’s 250th Birthday celebration. There will be BBQ, trivia, prizes and live music from Mind the Gap. Sonja Shaw, candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction will be the featured speaker.

RSVP: Please click here to learn more and for registration information. RSVP by Saturday, August 8 to take advantage of early bird pricing.

Paid for by SPARC, the South Peninsula Area Republican Coalition

Carol Pefley’s High-Energy Campaign for State Assembly

by Roger Riffenburgh

A small business owner in the South Bay, Carol Pefley says, “I’m running for State Assembly because Sacramento has lost touch with the people it’s supposed to serve. Under one‑party rule, the government has grown bigger, more expensive, and less accountable while basic problems like homelessness, public safety, and affordability keep getting worse. Politicians are too busy catering to unions, special interests, and bureaucracies to listen to the communities they represent.”

Pefley wants to restore local control. She is particularly concerned about how the state, in its efforts to increase housing, overrides local control of housing, resulting in zoning mismatches, inadequate parking and ignoring local planning efforts. She also believes voters deserve safe streets, a voice in their children’s education, and accountability for the taxes they pay. She’s fighting to cut taxes and lower the cost of living. Regarding homelessness, she says “Compassion isn’t letting people die on sidewalks. Compassion is helping people get healthy, sober, and off the streets while protecting the community.”

Carol Pefley is running in Assembly District 28. It contains the northern part of Santa Cruz County and southwest part of Santa Clara County. This includes the city of Santa Cruz, Big Basin State Park, Los Gatos, the Willow Glen and Cambrian Park and Almaden Valley portions of San Jose, Morgan Hill, and the forests, mountains and communities in between. . . . read more

August Events

See Details on BayAreaGOP Home Page

Mon 3 - Solano RWF: August Luncheon featuring Michaela Swaney

Tue 4 - Lincoln Club of Northern California: Young Professionals Happy Hour

Wed 5 - Leadership Institute: Candidate Vulnerability Assessment Webinar

Thu 6 - Santa Cruz RWF: Cocktail/Mocktail Meet-up

Sat 8 - San Mateo GOP: August Luncheon featuring Sonja Shaw

Sat 8 - SVACR: 2026 Stars and Stripes America’s 250th Birthday featuring Sonja Shaw

Sun 9 - A Conversation with Ritesh Tandon for Congress (Milpitas)

Sun 9 - Wine Social in Support of Carol Pefley for Assembly

Tue 11 - Leadership Institute: Get-Out-The-Vote Webinar

Tue 11 - Evening Reception in Support of Steve Hilton for Governor (Brentwood)

Tue 11 - South Monterey County RWF: August Meeting featuring Shane Lewis

Tue 11 - Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley: The College Graduate Job Crisis featuring Kevin Lynn

Wed 12 - Mt Diablo Republican Club: August Meeting featuring Robert H. Thomas (Pacific Legal Foundation)

Sun 16 - SPARC: America's 250th Birthday Summer BBQ featuring Sonja Shaw

Tue 18 - Palo Alto RWF: August Meeting featuring Linda Paine

Thu 20 - West Valley RWF: August Luncheon featuring Jennifer Hawks

Thu 20 - South County CCR: August Mixer

Fri 21 - Independent Institute: Building Home Film Premiere

Sat 22 - Santa Cruz County Republicans: Annual Fundraising BBQ featuring Gloria Romero and Sonja Shaw

Sun 23 - SVGOP: Summer Picnic featuring Steve Hilton

Tue 25 - Santa Cruz RWF: The Republic vs. Democracy – What Our Founders Saw Coming featuring Don Jans

Tue 25 - Leadership Institute: Get-Out-The-Vote Webinar

Sat 29 - Contra Costa GOP: Conservatives Hit the Trail (Castle Rock)

Sat 29 - Sonoma GOP: 6th Annual Sonoma County Republican Convention

View the Complete BayAreaGOP Upcoming Events List

Save the Date

Thu Sep 3 - Republican Club of San Francisco: September Meeting featuring Katie Hopkins

Wed Sep 23 - Pacific Research Institute: Annual Sir Antony Fisher Dinner

Sat Oct 3 - Reform California: Bagels, Brews, & Ballots - Monterey

Sat Oct 3 - Carol Pefley for State Assembly: BBQ, Beer and Ballots Get Out The Vote Rally

Tue Oct 6 - Independent Institute: California’s Proposed Wealth Tax

Sun Oct 11 - Reform California: Bagels, Brews, & Ballots - San Jose

Sun Oct 11 - Reform California: Bagels, Brews, & Ballots - Walnut Creek

Tue Nov 3 - Election Day

Wed Dec 2 - Legislative Action PAC: 2026 Tour de Napa

View the Complete BayAreaGOP Upcoming Events List

Want to get your message out to Bay Area Republicans?

Email your event info to BayAreaGOPevents@gmail.com. Or to advertise your event, campaign, or business in our Newsletter or on our website, contact ads@BayAreaGOP.com.

For inclusion in the Newsletter, please send us your info by noon, three days before the first of the month.

Thank you to our Sponsors

Join Our Email List

www.BayAreaGOP.com

See what's happening on our Twitter site: