Money is pouring into the race to represent San Jose’s downtown District 3 on the City Council, with less than two weeks before Election Day.
Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos has a fundraising lead of more than $90,000 over his opponent, Executive Director of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Gabby Chavez-Lopez Campaign finance documents filed Thursday show Tordillos has raised $336,709 in total, while Chavez-Lopez trails with $243,909 raised. special election will be held on June 24.
Tordillos' spokesperson Kurt Frewing said support for the campaign is growing, with more than 200 independent donations in the latest filing period.
Anthony has focused on running a grassroots campaign. He’s out every day, knocking on doors, talking to voters," Frewing told San José Spotlight. "We feel great, the conversations at doors keep getting only more positive.
Even though Chavez-Lopez is behind in fundraising, she said she’s gotten encouragement from voters while campaigning. She said Tordillos has gathered more funds because of his endorsement from Mayor Matt Mahan , who supported Tordillos after his initial pick, Deputy Chief of Staff Matthew Quevedo, was knocked out in the April primary election.
Chavez-Lopez pointed out that much of Tordillos’ campaign earnings come from his own wallet. Over the course of his campaign, Tordillos has given about $210,000 to his campaign , even though the latest filing does not include any additional self-funding contributions.
Related Stories
No favorites for Democratic Party in San Jose special election
San Jose candidate forum focused on downtown business community
San Jose District 3 candidates step up fundraising for June runoff
I speak for myself, I don’t have a spokesperson, and I think that goes a long way," Chavez-Lopez told San José Spotlight. "If you’re not getting in front of folks and telling them why you want to represent them and what you’re gonna do in these very tough times to lead and stand strong in your convictions, you’re not going to earn their vote.
Tordillos previously acknowledged his self-funding. He worked at Google for 11 years as an engineering manager before leaving to focus on his campaign.
Frewing pointed to the support Chavez-Lopez receives from corporations, including PG&E. Chavez-Lopez’s campaign came under fire for having PG&E executive help with campaign events, while a political action committee bankrolled by the utility company independently supported her candidacy. Chavez-Lopez has denied receiving support from corporations or representatives from PG&E.
Special interests
Seven political action committees spent more than $800,000 ahead of the April primary election, namely supporting Chavez-Lopez or Quevedo. While spending slowed immediately after the election, major committees like Common Good Silicon Valley and the South Bay Labor Council have upped their spending in the past week.
Common Good Silicon Valley , a PAC created in 2021 by freshman Congress member and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo , spent thousands to support Quevedo ahead of the April election. More recently, the committee spent $15,000 on digital ads supporting Tordillos.
Despite the independent special interest support, Frewing said Tordillos' campaign has consistently rejected money from corporations, going so far as to crosscheck their donors with the city's list of registered lobbyists. He said this work ensures accountability to voters.
“Anthony’s proud to be rejecting corporate and lobbyist money,” Frewing told San José Spotlight. “We have no control over what any outside group does, but Anthony’s proud to have built a broad coalition of support.”
Oppositional spending has picked up, with the California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee and Silicon Valley Biz PAC both spending more than $10,000 on mailers earlier this month to oppose Chavez-Lopez.
Chavez-Lopez has received thousands of dollars in independent support, notably from the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council Committee on Political Education. The PAC has spent more than $500,000 to support her candidacy, and it is the only special interest group to have spent money supporting her since the April primary election.
The committee Working Families in Support of Gabby Chavez-Lopez for City Council 2025 terminated on April 25, but first spent about $51,000 supporting Chavez-Lopez and opposing Quevedo. It was primarily funded by large companies, including PG&E, Chevron and Walmart.
Chavez-Lopez said she’s focusing on her campaign rather than special interests while trying to connect with voters.
"I think my campaign has always been powered by people and volunteers and not personal wealth, like my opponent," Chavez-Lopez told San José Spotlight.
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at <succeeded> or @SakuCannestra on X.
The post Tordillos leads in fundraising for San Jose District 3 race appeared first on San José Spotlight .
0 Komentar