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The mystery behind Becerra leapfrogging over his rivals in California's governor's race (www.latimes.com)
submitted 2 months ago by zabadoh@ani.social to c/california@lemmy.world
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[–] zabadoh@ani.social 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

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(Swalwell campaign worker Alf) LaMont said he was “doomscrolling” that same night (April 10 following news reports about the allegations against Swalwell) when he saw an “organic, random” push for Becerra on Threads and other social media sites. LaMont said he immediately called Becerra’s campaign team and signed up to work for him.

(Carrie) Webster, the Long Beach content creator, also noticed the online buzz about Becerra.

“People were saying, ‘Let’s print out yard signs, T-shirts,’” Webster said. “Or someone would say, ‘I’m going to start Gen X for Becerra,’ or ‘I’m going to start Millennials for Becerra.’”

The push was so noticeable that Steyer’s campaign hired an intelligence agency with ties to a major Israeli firm to study the trend.

The agency’s report found about 3,000 fake accounts that amplified Becerra across social media platforms X, Facebook and Instagram while also criticizing Steyer, according to Steyer’s team. In all, the fake accounts generated 1.3 million views and 42,000 engagements, the report stated.

Steyer spokesperson Kevin Liao alleged a coordinated network from Becerra’s team or his supporters. Becerra’s campaign denied any role and dismissed the influence of the fake accounts.