Photo of Sen. Ben Hueso and other state legislators before drunk driving arrest

For better or worse, Lorena Gonzalez has long had a special way with tweets.

Gonzalez's 2014 tweet

Even before the rise of twitter-master Donald Trump, the Assembly Democrat, married to county supervisor Nathan Fletcher, has been sharing her often controversial political life online.

An August 21, 2014 tweet by Gonzalez inadvertently memorialized the statehouse partying preceding the drunk driving arrest of Democrat Ben Hueso, now running for San Diego county supervisor.

"Yes... loving my Latino Caucus boys..." wrote Gonzalez in an 11: 19 pm tweet featuring a photo of a boisterous Hueso and four colleagues prior to the bust.

"Hours before state Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, was arrested on Thursday night on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, he and four other lawmakers were photographed reveling on a Capitol balcony, drinks in hand," reported the Sacramento Bee.

"The arrest took place hours after Hueso had taken part in a Latino Caucus dinner at the Il Fornaio restaurant, honoring Latino legislators who are leaving office."

Gonzalez's tweet was subsequently deleted, per the newspaper's report.

Union-Tribune ad

Now Gonzalez, most famous these days for her sponsorship of last year's gig-limiting Assembly Bill 5, is in the news yet again for another post-5 p.m. tweet, this one, on May 9, saying "F*ck Elon Musk."

"California has highly subsidized a company that has always disregarded worker safety & well-being, has engaged in union busting & bullies public servants," she followed up regarding Musk’s Tesla, the carmaker he is reopening in defiance of Alameda County rules intended to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"I probably could've expressed my frustration in a less aggressive way. Of course, no one would've cared if I tweeted that."

"And, the deaths from Covid-19 in California are disproportionately Latino. Our communities have been the hardest hit. By far. Maybe that's why we take the public health officials' warning and directions so seriously."

Responded Musk's twitter account: "Message Received."

Also taking note was an outfit calling itself the California Business and Industrial Alliance, which took out a display advertisement in the Union-Tribune featuring the anti-Musk tweet, adding:

"Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, Championed AB5, destroyed thousands of California jobs.

"Elon Musk: Founded revolutionary companies, created thousands of California jobs.

"Who's really f---ing California?"

The California Business and Industrial Alliance was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C on July 13, 2017, according to a July 2018 foreign corporation disclosure filing with the California Secretary of State's office, by Tom Manzo of Sunland, California.

President of Timely Prefinished Steel Door Frames in Pacoima, Manzo founded the group "when his company was hit with a Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) lawsuit for ridiculous claims," according to an online profile.

"That suit caused him to realize that the 1,000+ pages of California labor law are nothing more than a tool for plaintiffs' attorneys to use against hardworking businesses."

"Before taking the leap to create a new organization for this effort, he reached out to other business organizations to see if they were interested in the fight.

"Unfortunately, many already had full plates, and others simply showed no interest. Some organizations say they represent businesses, although, due to politics, they support agendas that are actually harmful, and others just don't want to stir the pot."