San Francisco has seen its fair share of political scandals — Ed Lee, for example, was never really elected to office, ran a fabricated grassroots campaign, and now, among other ostensibly benign wonk atrocities, makes it a point of ignoring the press — but the battle between "Mug Shot" Mary Hayashi and Bob "the Bully" Wieckowski for an East Bay state Senate seat has reached the tipping point. Neiman-Marcus, theft, and leather pants are involved. Let's dive in...
Basically, things have gotten ugly between Hayashi and Wieckowski. Very ugly. So much so that the Wieckowski campaign has edited and released security footage from a 2011 Union Square shoplifting incident wherein Hayashi "inadvertently walked out of the store with a white blouse, black skirt and leather pants in a shopping bag without paying for them." Oops.
Behold:
This is terrifying. I am personally in Neimans at least twice a week to pick up my share of free age-defying serums and perfume samples. Do you think the security camera follows me around from the La Prarie counter to the Chanel counter, where I spray anywhere from 8-10 blasts of Cuir de Russie on my body? Well shit.
Anyway, Hayashi pleaded no contest to misdemeanor grand theft in 2012, later sentenced to three years' probation. Matier and Ross have more:
The video release comes just after Hayashi sent out a mailer to 10th District voters accusing Wieckowski of spending more than $500,000 on attack ads exploiting the incident."Bob the Bully knows that the only way he can win this election is by mudslinging and attacking Mary," the mailer says.
Wieckowski, who earlier put up a Mug Shot Mary website, makes no apologies for spotlighting the shoplifting conviction.
"She put out all these feel-good ads about herself, but when people here see that she is still on probation, it's like her support steps into an empty elevator shaft," Wieckowski said.
For her part, Hayashi has accused Wieckowski of "protecting rapists" after "voting against a measure in an Assembly committee preventing people convicted of sexually assaulting a spouse from receiving alimony after a divorce."
One of them will, presumably, get booted after the June 3 primary. Until then, enjoy the fireworks.
