In January, Uber committed $30 million to the Uber Innovation PAC, positioning the company as a key player in California politics. This investment, the largest of its kind from Uber in the state, aims to support candidates, policies, and legislative reforms that address key challenges facing California's economy.
Led by Ramona Prieto, Uber's head of public policy and communications for the Western region, this independent expenditure effort represents a significant escalation in the company's involvement in California's policy landscape.
“As a startup founded and based in California, Uber has an outsized stake in what happens here,” said Prieto at the time.
“The Uber Innovation PAC will amplify thoughtful candidates and campaigns that are willing to take on the tough challenges that our state’s collective future faces. That includes electrification, supporting small business, repairing the state’s broken insurance markets rife with litigation abuse, ensuring a competitive business climate and protecting access to flexible work amidst record inflation and economic uncertainty.”
Out of the gate, the PAC contributed $250,000 in support of Proposition 1, a top priority for Governor Gavin Newsom aimed at enhancing the state's mental health infrastructure. This substantial commitment signaled a strategic approach to advancing its initiatives.
Uber then engaged extensively in state legislative races across California.
In California's 7th Senate District, a key Bay Area race in a traditionally progressive area, Uber faced off against organized labor. Uber's PAC supported Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín in his bid against California Labor Federation President Kathryn Lybarger, who received millions of dollars in direct and indirect support from union groups. The campaign focused on issues such as the rising cost of insurance, litigation, and other matters not typically aligned with the standard union agenda.
When the dust settled, union-backed Lybarger failed to advance to the general election, finishing fourth behind Arreguín and AC Transit Board Director Jovanka Beckles.
According to Prieto, this result was not a one-time proxy victory. She noted that 80% of the primary campaigns supported by Uber's PAC in California were successful in their contests, as she told the Northern California Record.
Ahead of the next legislative session, Uber's recent political activities could shift the power dynamics in Sacramento, traditionally dominated by organized labor. The company aims to foster a more collaborative environment for advancing key state policies related to economic opportunity, sustainability, and insurance reform.
“While other companies have chosen to pack up and leave California over the state's hostile regulatory and anti-business political climate perpetuated by some in the legislature,” Prieto said, “Uber is committed to California and is choosing to stay and fight and build consensus to fix our challenges and prosper together.”