Professor Smith: Chevron's Big Campaign Spending in Richmond May Backfire

KQED NEWS -- Robert Smith, a political scientist at San Francisco State University who’s been watching Richmond closely, said Chevron’s thinly veiled influence this election season might backfire and draw new, unsympathetic voters to the booth.

Such large amounts of money might “offend people’s democratic sensibilities, people who might otherwise be uninterested,” he said. “Throwing your weight around that excessively is just going beyond the pale.”