Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Kurt Oneto

No. 36 Kurt Oneto

We have more than a dozen initiatives on the ballot this year and it is only a rumor that Kurt Oneto is working for or against all of them. It’s really maybe half. Hold on – that’s a joke. But seriously, as the leader of Nielsen Merksamer’s government law section there are few in Sacramento or anywhere else who know that world better than Oneto. A recognized expert in initiative and referenda law, he specializes in statewide ballot measures, having served as counsel and legal strategist to approximately 100 measures in California and other states over the last 20 years. He was instrumental in defending Prop. 22, the voter-approved ballot measure that allows gig companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors. SEIU California challenged it, but the California Supreme Court upheld the law, a ruling that set a national precedent for how all gig works are classified by employers. He was also involved in this year’s battle between Uber and the Consumer Attorneys of California over the company’s liability in certain situations, helping to pull competing measures off the ballot.

Updated Aug. 11, 2026