This story was originally published on Aug. 30.
BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A Los Altos council candidate said yesterday that he has spent more than $10,000 on a TV ad that will run on streaming services.
The ad features Ibrahim Bashir’s wife talking about why voters should pick him – he’s cheap, he’s efficient and he’s gotten things done, she says, as Bashir looks for coins in the couch cushions and takes a book off a library shelf.
The ad is an unusual move for Los Altos, where most campaigns rarely invest in any digital advertising, Bashir’s campaign said.
“Just as I believe that city government could learn some lessons from the tech sector, I think local campaigns can better engage residents both through grassroots work and through advertising like this,” Bashir said in a statement.
The ads will run on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Hulu, Roku and several other connected TV platforms.
The ads will be targeted exclusively to Los Altans, Bashir said yesterday.
Bashir raised $29,540 in the first six months of the year from 68 donors, campaign finance forms show. Bashir received 18 donations from Los Altos residents, and 50 donations from people who live outside the city, campaign finance forms show.
Bashir, 43, said in an email that support came from friends around the Bay Area.
Bashir is vice president of product management at Amplitude, a software company based in San Francisco.
Bashir is running in a field of five candidates, including incumbent Mayor Jonathan Weinberg and Councilwoman Sally Meadows.
Planning Commissioner Eric Steinle and Los Altos History Museum board president Larry Lang are the other candidates.
Los Altos has a population of 31,668 and 20,081 residents who are old enough to vote, the 2020 Census said.
The top three vote-getters will take office.
November’s election will be the last citywide election in Los Altos. Council is working on dividing the city into districts and having a council member represent each one, starting in 2026.