Update: A change has been made to the initial story said that Bob O’Keefe and Steve Kelly donated money to their campaigns. In fact, they loaned money to their campaigns, which means the money does not count toward the donation limit.
The money race is on for the 2024 election in Santa Clara and it promises to be another bacchanal spending spree.
PACs And Independent Expenditure Committees
As has been the case since the Santa Clara police union POA PAC touched off a spending orgy in city elections in 2016, independent expenditure committee spending looks like it will dwarf candidates’ direct spending again this year.
The 49ers kicked off the party with an eye-popping $931,000 in donations to four independent expenditure committees:
- D1: $249,000 opposing Satish Chandra and supporting Albert Gonzalez
- D4: $232,000 opposing Teresa O’Neill and supporting incumbent Kevin Park
- D5: $225,000 opposing David Kertes and supporting incumbent Suds Jain
- D6: $225,000 opposing Kelly Cox
The 49ers have reported $206,250 in spending.
Related Santa Clara has formed an independent expenditure committee to support Chandra, Cox and O’Neill.
The Santa Clara Police Officers Association (POA) PAC reports $20,000 in union donations. So far it has not reported any donations from developers, which has made up most of the money that the POA PAC has spent on campaigns since 2016.
Candidate Committees
D1 candidate Satish Chandra has received $6,750 in donations. What is notable about Chandra’s war chest is that 86% (18) of his donations come from out of town, and some from out of state. Several of his donors are very prominent in the Hindu political advocacy group Americans for Hindus. Chandra has spent $1,780 on lawn signs.
D5 incumbent Suds Jain has loaned $10,000 to his campaign and donated $225, which was spent on campaign materials.
D4 candidate Kevin Park has received $960 in donations.
City Clerk candidate Bob O’Keefe loaned $4,000 to his campaign. Steve Kelly, also contending for the job, loaned $5,000 to his own campaign.
Candidate for police chief, Cory Morgan, has donated $660 to his campaign. Morgan’s opponent, Mario Brasil, hasn’t filed any reports.
The remaining candidates reported no donations as of Sept. 13.
The city’s Netfile campaign finance page is inconsistent with respect to independent expenditure filings. None of the Related committee’s filings are shown, and six of the eight 49ers’ financial
filings were missing as of 9/13. The information is available on cal-access.sos.ca.gov. Not all local campaign finance information is reported at the state level.
How to Follow the Campaign Money
Campaign donations and spending are filed on several forms required by the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC): Forms 460, 496 and 497. The 460 form is periodic (at a minimum, bi-annually), while Forms 496 and 497 are filed when money is spent or donated.
Read more about tracking campaign money: https://stage.svvoice.com/how-to-follow-the-money-peeling-the-campaign-spending-onion/.
