A quick perusal of coverage of the AD-50 race between (among others) activist and non-profit leader Torie Osborn and South Bay Beverly Hills Assemblymember Betsy Butler would give you the idea, despite arguments of Butler’s supporters to the contrary, that the race is a battle between the grassroots activists of the district who are supporting Osborn (as reflected by the local Democratic clubs that have endorsed her) vs. the Sacramento machine (as reflected by the institutional endorsements Betsy has received, with varying degrees of Sacramento assistance).

Well, if the fundraising numbers are any indication, that narrative is spot on. From a release send out by Osborn’s consultant:

According to recent fundraising reports filed with the California Secretary of State, Osborn has raised $803,753 from 3,626 individual donations.   Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the donations were $100 or less, considered a sign of grassroots support and ability to mobilize new voters into the political process.

Osborn dwarfs Butler in those small individual donations. Osborn has received 2,481 small donations, while Butler pulled in a mere 123 such donations.  In another indication of broad grassroots support, 1,488 donations were made online to Osborn’s campaign, totaling $251,503, vs. 119 to Butler for $41,285.

Butler, a lawmaker who represents the South Bay and moved to Beverly Hills to run for this seat, trailed Osborn miserably in raising local money and showing support from the 50th District.  Osborn raked in 1,658 contributions, totaling $403,430 from the new district.  Butler drew less than ten percent of that – 107 contributions totaling $59,463.

Let’s some this up nicely. Osborn has over 20 times as many small-dollar contributions, and about 15 times as many in-district contributions. So where’s Butler’s money coming from? The answer is obvious:

Torie Osborn has received 9 contributions from Sacramento totaling $8,625. Betsy Butler has received 142 contributions just from Sacramento that come to $291,044.

And there you have it. There could be no clearer indication. Torie Osborn is looking to represent Assembly District 50 in Sacramento. Betsy Butler is looking to represent Sacramento in Assembly District 50.

One would have thought that Sacramento would have looked at the grassroots fundraising prowess of Torie Osborn and sought to elevate that and channel that into productive, progressive change. Instead, protecting incumbents is such a priority that they’re willing to throw not just the kitchen sink, but everything else in the entire house, into AD-50 just to try to defeat her.

Probably the hottest race for Assembly this year is the race in Assembly District 50, where progressive legend Torie Osborn, who has the support of just about every single local Democratic club, as well as that of Julia Brownley and Sheila Kuehl, is going up against South Bay Assemblymember Betsy Butler, who currently represents about 1% of the new 50th Assembly District. The race has a classic “insider vs. outsider” dynamic: Osborn is well known for her nonprofit work for LGBT equality and against poverty, and has a ton of local grassroots support, including just about every single Democratic club that has endorsed in the race. Butler, meanwhile, is taking full advantage of the the money and endorsements that being a sitting legislator can provide. It’s well known that I’m an avid Osborn supporter; for a full rundown of all the stories that have made this race a fun one to watch, just check out this summmary from Marta Evry.

So far, Butler’s strategy in the race has been to attempt to convince voters that there’s nothing particularly special about this election: that she’s just your run-of-the-mill incumbent seeking re-election to her district. And even though it might be misleading to claim that when you’ve only represented 1% of the district, she’s technically correct: both the California Elections Code and the rules of the California Democratic Party allow her to claim that (and would also allow her to claim that if she were running in Shasta, but that’s a story for another day).

Today, however, changes the equation. I got a piece of mail today from the Butler campaign touting her credentials on women’s issues. The piece was obviously designed to be mailed to women, given the introduction–“mothers, daughters, sisters and aunts”–but I received it anyway. It was your typical mailing, except for one part:

Our Assemblywoman, Betsy Butler

And with that, we’ve transcended from “misleading” to “flat out not true.” I live in AD-50, and I don’t live in just the 1% that Betsy Butler currently represents. I live in the part that’s currently represented by Mike Feuer. The letter is signed by several people who are supporting Butler, and perhaps they could be trying to claim that the signatories are represented by “their Assemblywoman, Betsy Butler.” Problem is, that’s not true either, as the piece contains the signatures of activists in Beverly Hills (Mike Feuer) and Malibu (Julia Brownley), as well as some who don’t live in the district at all.

I’m not sure whether Butler’s claim that she already represents me is a sign of desperation given Torie Osborn’s strong campaign, or simple disrespect for the intelligence of the voters of the 50th District. All I know is, I’m not a fan.