Democrats Hate A Bunch Of Democrats, And It’s Hilarious
The article examines intra-Democratic tensions in California, focusing on Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia’s aggressive stance against waste and fraud and how that stance challenges the party’s insider culture. Mejia, described as very left and a true believer in government intervention, has uncovered meaningful fraud in homeless services and is pushing for more investigators, even though he is not part of the traditional political “inside circle.” The piece portrays him as part of the ascendant left who is willing to call out fraud and mismanagement, wich some establishment figures find uncomfortable.
Mejia’s two opponents in the los Angeles City Controller race—Isadore Hall and Zach Sokoloff—are depicted as representing the establishment. Hall is shown as endorsed by prominent figures like California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, while Sokoloff is a real estate developer with significant real estate dollars backing him. The Los Angeles Times is cited as framing the race as a clash between established politics and the emerging left. Mejia’s momentum is framed as a threat to entrenched interests and the “machine politics” of the city.
The piece also links these California dynamics to broader politics, including friction between Governor Gavin Newsom and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who has criticized Newsom’s approach to crime and homelessness. The author, Chris Bray, notes how criticism of the political status quo is treated within the Democratic camp, illustrating a culture where dissent is often discouraged. Bray,a former Army sergeant and UCLA PhD,writes on Substack about these themes.
Democrats hate certain other Democrats and leftists about as much as they hate you, and their targets are quite revealing.
In Los Angeles, elected City Controller Kenneth Mejia has unearthed significant social services fraud and waste and is pushing to fund more investigators — without success — so he can dig deeper. Mejia is way left, a high-octane Bernie bro who ostensibly “left” the Democrat Party in 2024. He has at times identified with the Green Party, apparently because the Democrats were much too far to the right for him. But Mejia is also a certified public accountant and a true believer in leftist social intervention, and he takes it personally when people steal from government programs that are supposed to help the poor. Mejia’s investigators are the reason a homeless services contractor in Los Angeles is awaiting trial on a massive list of state and federal felony charges for fraud.
Mejia revealed earlier this week that real estate and private equity “executives” as well as multiple “billionaires” are “pouring money” into the 2026 controller’s race to “oust” him amid his reelection bid.
Mejia’s two opponents are endorsed by a who’s-who of establishment democrats. Former state legislator Isadore Hall is, kind of bizarrely, endorsed by (among others) California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, probably the most controversial figure in state politics at the moment. The Los Angeles Times characterized a race between these two candidates like this: “Hall and Mejia represent vastly different flanks of the Democratic Party, and the coming race will almost certainly pit L.A. establishment politics against the city’s ascendant left.” (Mejia is the ascendant left. He said in November last year he would “not be seeking the endorsement from politicians.”)
His other opponent, Zach Sokoloff, is a real estate developer who got a bunch of the other establishment endorsements, like the powerful Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. Campaign finance reports filed with the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission also show that Sokoloff is the one soaking up the real estate cash that Mejia refers to in his video. So Mejia, the “ascendant left,” faces a sharp challenge from the establishment.
As we’re seeing in Minneapolis, the first rule of Democrat Club is that you aren’t supposed to mention the fraud and the grift. Kenneth Mejia is ideologically aligned with the way-left Los Angeles political machine, but he also isn’t a member of that insider club. He calls out waste and fraud, which is very unorthodox and impolite.
Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom keeps pretending that San Jose doesn’t have a mayor. But that mayor (Matt Mahan) does provably exist, having been spotted in his natural habitat, and does the unforgivable: He describes Gavin Newsom as a do-nothing prima donna. In an op-ed essay that got a lot of attention in the state, Mahan discussed the preening Newsom’s persistent neglect of real problems like crime and rampant homelessness. The headline of that op-ed piece tells the story: “How about less time breaking the internet and more time fixing California?”
Those kinds of criticisms make a California Democrat an immediate unperson. Mahan has announced his plans to run for governor, and Newsom … can’t quite place the name. Mahan, Mahan, uh — give me a reminder?
The bad blood started building even before that, as Newsom traveled to San Jose in 2024 to sign legislation that Mahan had supported, but didn’t invite the mayor to the otherwise well-attended ceremony. People noticed, and were meant to. Mahan is mostly a fairly conventional Democrat, but he says things, and you’re not supposed to say things. You’re supposed to be on the team.
If you’ve argued with Democrats, you think that they’re brittle and instantly hostile in the face of the slightest disagreement, preferring to enforce rigid groupthink. But don’t worry: Some Democrats and others on the left have the same experience. They line up in the chute, or the dog barks at them.
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