SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On Wednesday, superstar singer John Legend shined a light on a number of very specific and local governmental races by tweeting out endorsements.
One of those endorsed was Alana Mathews, one of two bids for the Sacramento County District Attorney's seat in the June primary election.
"So I opened [Twitter] up and read it, I was like, 'Oh! This is John Legend... he knows who I am!'" said Mathews.
Mathews said she was not expecting the endorsement at all.
When ABC10 asked if she knew why exactly Legend was endorsing very specific candidates like herself, she said she wasn't fully sure as she hasn't talked to him personally, but believes it may be a combination of Sacramento making national news recently with the K Street shooting that left six dead, as well as Legend sharing similar stances to her campaign.
Those stances include being proactive following the recent series of shootings in Sacramento.
"We need new ideas to break this cycle of violence, which is why I'm calling for a new approach to help survivors of domestic abuse and a proactive approach to getting guns out of the hands of abusers," said Mathews.
A drastic difference between other district attorney candidates across the nation and Mathews is her not taking endorsements from law enforcement. A common practice ABC10 covered in an in-depth investigation.
"I think that's important to preserve the integrity and trust in the community," said Mathews. "I actually say it’s the most pro-police officer thing I can do because when I have to make a decision or when I have to make a decision, that use of force is justified, the community has full faith and confidence it’s based on the merits and the law – and not because I’m getting any financial contributions."
If Mathews were elected, she'd be the first black person to serve as district attorney. She's up against Thien Ho in the June primary. Ho is also a person of color and has a number of endorsements.
Legend backing her isn't the first time he's become involved in the lives of those in Sacramento.
"I was incarcerated. I've been out of prison for 100-110 days. I served 24 years," said Sam Brown. "Over the course of those years, I've done a lot of changing, evolving and growing."
Brown met Legend and his manager, Ty Stiklorius, who co-founded the impact organization Friends at Work, while they were doing outreach in prisons.
It's just one of Legend's organizations — in October 2021, Legend founded the initiative HumanLevel which said is a "new initiative to uplift communities disproportionately impacted by institutionalized racism."
He said they were taken with his spoken word poetry and the amount of change and rehabilitation he had gone through since his sentencing.
"They decided to help me at that time — I had a life-plus sentence," said Brown. "They were able to help get attorneys to represent me - and now I'm here a couple years later, talking to you, I'm home."
Brown is now a community advocate and aspiring artist himself. He applauds Legend for getting involved with people and politics on a local level.
"So any time you see someone from a marginalized, oppressed or downtrodden people to become a success story and they haven’t turned their back but they turn around and allocate their resources, time and energy to give back and help other people – that’s the one we should give flowers right now," said Brown. "When you see someone like John Legend who would take the time to direct their energy and their fans and anyone who watches them, draw attention to a local district attorney race… that’s saying something. It stirs in other people within the community for other people to pay attention. It gives them a sense of ownership or influence in the ultimate decision."
