The campaign text that flashed across Sunnyvale City Councilmember Richard Mehlinger’s phone pledged that Rishi Kumar would put money back into his pocket if elected as the next Santa Clara County Assessor.

Kumar, a former Saratoga City Councilmember, is one of four candidates looking to fill the seat left vacant after longtime Assessor Larry Stone stepped down earlier this year . But Mehlinger already had endorsed one of Kumar’s opponents — Los Altos Vice Mayor Neysa Fligor — and decided to write back.

“Rishi Kumar isn’t fit to be dogcatcher, much less assessor,” he texted.

What came next was a profanity-laden response allegedly from Kumar’s campaign.

“It seems like you can sniff out dogcatcher talent because you are one?” the text read. “Rishi wrote a book on Al, is an Al expert,

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