An independent political candidate is fighting back against threats from union leaders and several professors who take issue with his criticism of their stance on a billionaire’s tax.
State assembly candidate Richard “Dick” Lucas posts entertaining videos where he decries California’s problems with homelessness and crime.
He also runs a website called California Wealth Exodus, where he tracks people leaving the state in relation to a November 2026 ballot measure that would levy a one-time 5% wealth tax on billionaire residents.
Lucas says at least six known billionaires have already changed their residency due to the threat of the law, including Google’s Larry Page and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. He says 43 more billionaires have committed “stealth departures.”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXfbe9ngVav/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading
His criticism has drawn the ire of six people in particular, whom he names as members of the “Looter Dream Team.” The individuals include Dave Regan, president of the Service Employees’ International Union-Union of Healthcare Workers, and Suzanne Jimenez, a representative with the same union.
Rounding out the starting six are university professors: David Gamage (University of Missouri), Brian Galle (University of California Berkeley), Darien Shanske (University of California Davis), and Emmanuel Saez (UC Berkeley).
Through a law firm, the six reportedly sent letters demanding that Lucas take down their names and contact info from his websites.
But he responded through the legal powerhouse Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which pointed out that Lucas has First Amendment rights and that all six members of the “dream team” have publicly made their views known through writings and media appearances.
An April 27 letter stated:
In addition to being involved in drafting and filing the measure, each of them has supported this tax in highly public forums, including in interviews, social media posts, and op-eds. They are academics and industry leaders whose voices carry significant authority on issues of economic law and policy. While it is perfectly acceptable for them to engage in public debate regarding California’s wealth tax, they cannot at the same time make legal threats against those who publicly challenge their claims about its effects and encourage others, in good faith, to do the same.
The cease-and-desist letters reportedly accused Lucas of violating anti-doxing laws. But his attorneys point out that his commentary is protected by the First Amendment.
Supreme Court precedent protects his rights to criticize the supporters, some of whom have been publicly involved since at least 2021 in promoting a wealth tax.
“They have willingly entered the public sphere by throwing their support behind a controversial political opinion,” Alliance Defending Freedom argues. “As a result, they may be exposed to opinions—even harsh opinions—of those who disagree with them.”
The cease-and-desist letters could violate the state’s Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) laws, ADF warned.
The legal group said an anti-SLAPP lawsuit will be filed if the “dream team” does not stop trying to shut up Lucas.
“Your clients have vocally and publicly endorsed this tax, and Mr. Lucas has a constitutionally protected right to challenge those endorsements as he campaigns for public office,” the letter concluded.
[Featured image from Dick Lucas’ Instagram]
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