Dollars flow into Santa Clara County DA, supervisor races

Money is flowing in two competitive Santa Clara County races less than a month before the June 2 primary election.

Campaign finance filings show District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas has raised more than $119,000 between this and last year and spent more than $3,600 to hold onto the agricultural South County region she won in 2022. She’s fending off a challenge from Rebecca Munson, a Morgan Hill Unified School District board member who has raised $7,580 and spent $7,400 this year.

The more contentious battle for top county prosecutor has seen incumbent District Attorney Jeff Rosen raising roughly $437,000 between this and last year and spending nearly $109,000. His challenger and subordinate, Deputy District Attorney Daniel Chung, has raised $127,000 — about $100,000 of that coming in loans from himself — and spent $32,000, filings show.

“I am extremely grateful to everyone who has contributed financially to my campaign,” Rosen told San José Spotlight. “I am equally grateful to the many volunteers who have distributed lawn signs, texted Santa Clara County voters and spoken to their friends and neighbors on my behalf. Those efforts will continue, because I believe no one seeking reelection should take voters for granted — and I certainly do not.”

Beyond the candidates’ own campaigns, outside groups have spent approximately $130,300 this year — mostly in support of Arenas — to influence the races with mailers, precinct walking, phone banking and online ads.

The South Bay Labor Council’s independent committee has spent more than $125,700 in support of Arenas and just $307 in support of Rosen. The California Taxpayer Protection Committee has spent more than $4,200 in support of Munson.

South Bay Labor Council Executive Officer Jean Cohen said her organization is focusing its spending on supporting Arenas.

“Unlike tech billionaires and corporate interests that pour unlimited money into elections, labor relies on people power-phone banking, precinct walking, mail and direct voter education driven by union members and community volunteers,” Cohen told San José Spotlight.

Sheriff Bob Jonsen, District 4 Supervisor Susan Ellenberg and County Assessor Neysa Fligor — who won a special election last year after the retirement of her 30-year predecessor Larry Stone — are all running unopposed in their reelection bids.

The District 1 race will be a litmus test for South County’s support of Arenas. Her win four years ago shifted the Board of Supervisors’ political tilt, solidifying a progressive bloc. The former San Jose councilmember’s win aligned with the redrawing of District 1’s boundaries the prior year, which expanded the district into several San Jose neighborhoods. In the process, the district lost the conservative stronghold areas of Almaden Valley and Los Gatos.

“As I knock on doors across our community, the message from District 1 families is clear: keep up your focus on solutions for our families,” Arenas told San José Spotlight. “Over the last four years, we’ve made real progress — tackling tough issues that were ignored for too long. I’m honored by everyone who is supporting me to keep up this work.”

As supervisor, Arenas has been vocal about fixing county child welfare issues that have led to three high-profile deaths under Santa Clara County’s watch in three years. Most recently, the alleged sexual assault and killing of 2-year-old Jaxon Juarez prompted the county to put 10 social workers on leave in connection with his foster case.

She has also championed efforts to study systemic health threats facing the county’s Latino communities and establish an office of agricultural tourism to protect farmland from development.

Munson has said her goal is better representation of the largely agricultural district. She said she’ll work to responsibly balance the county budget to protect essential services and make the public hospitals more self-sustaining through greater efficiency and different revenue strategies. She also vows to work closer with other elected officials in the district to tackle homelessness and mental health.

Munson declined to comment.

The DA race is a bit more personal. Rosen and Chung originally squared off after Chung wrote a 2021 opinion article critical of Rosen’s criminal justice reforms following racist violence toward Asian Americans. Rosen suspended Chung for a week on the charge that he used his county-issued work laptop and email address to submit the article, and his official title, without permission. Rosen reassigned him from criminal cases to cases dealing with mental health and juveniles.

The public spats continued until Chung was barred from coming into the office. Chung is still barred and continues to sue for reinstatement. He also unsuccessfully ran against Rosen in 2022.

Chung said the contrast between his and his opponent’s fundraising amounts to a “David and Goliath” fight.

“We’re not discouraged by the money situation,” he told San José Spotlight. “We have boots on the ground in the community every single day. We have done over 400 community events now since Labor Day. I think the momentum is changing in our favor.”

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.