Money flows into Cupertino City Council race

One mid-sized West Valley city’s council race is raking in cash, in what some residents are dubbing a high-stakes election with divisive housing issues on the table.

The Cupertino City Council race has brought in about $222,000 among seven candidates vying for two seats in a city of about 60,000 residents, according to election data from January to Sept. 21.

Cupertino doesn’t have campaign spending limits, so candidates can spend as much as they want. Money is still coming in from pro-development and anti-development residents trying to cement their choices.

At the top of the leaderboard is former Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong, who has close to $80,000. But $60,000 of that is from personal campaign loans from Wong. He is trying to fundraise enough money to help repay his loans, with less than 30 days until the election. Some of his higher-profile contributors include Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee, state Sen. Josh Becker and the San Jose Water Company, who donated $500, $500 and $250 respectively.

He supports smart development growth along major thoroughfares. Wong said running a successful campaign is not just about fundraising.

“It’s a combination of what works the best. There might be some campaigns that can do it strictly by word of mouth,” he told San José Spotlight. “On this particular campaign, I believe, a combination of doing mailers, social media, especially knocking on doors (and) phone banking, that is the best way.”

Rod Sinks, Fremont Union High School District trustee and former Cupertino mayor, has received the most contributions at nearly $44,000, which includes a $5,500 contribution of his own money. This is the most an individual can give any candidate. Sinks hasn’t taken out any loans.

Sinks said he’s received more donations in this race than in his previous runs for council in 2011 and 2016 when he netted about $30,000 and $33,000, respectively.

He said inflation has upped the costs of nearly everything, including one of his top expenses: postage for mailers. He attributes his donation success to his campaign messaging, which includes a push to finish the controversial The Rise project on the former Vallco Mall site. Some of his contributors include fellow candidate and Councilmember Hung Wei, former Cupertino Mayor Richard Lowenthal and Fremont Union High School District Trustee Rosa Kim, who donated $5,500, $5,000 and $250 respectively.

“We are going to use (the donations) to tell our story. That story is essentially if you vote for Rod Sinks and Hung Wei, we’re going to get a downtown, and we’re going to work very hard to do that,” he told San José Spotlight. “We’re going to bring the community into the discussions about what that looks like and what benefits we would like to have at (Vallco).”

Cupertino Councilmember Kitty Moore follows Sinks at about $28,400, with about $3,900 in non-monetary contributions. Former Planning Commissioner R “Ray” Wang has almost $25,300, boosted by a $5,000 loan. Wei has close to $25,000 and Parks and Recreation Commissioner Claudio Bono has more than $15,500 with a roughly $2,600 loan. Former Cupertino Mayor Barry Chang comes in last, with about $4,500 raised, including $2,500 in loans.

Housing Commission Chair Connie Cunningham, who’s lived in the city for about 35 years, donated $150 in August to Sinks’ campaign. She said she doesn’t look much at the campaign contributions, but the key reason she supports Sinks is because of his stance on housing.

“Local politics is a lot of times where it’s really at. Cities are extremely important as building blocks for the country as a whole,” she told San José Spotlight. “All politics is local, and I think it’s important to be engaged at the city level.”
Cupertino resident Peggy Griffin, who has lived in the city since 1985, wasn’t surprised at the money flooding in. She said it’s because of the contentious issues dividing residents, such as The Rise project. The development plans to bring nearly 2,700 homes, 890 of which are affordable, making it Cupertino’s largest housing project ever.

She said whoever ends up on the dais will have a large role in how the yearslong development pans out.

“I think there’s a lot at stake and decisions waiting to be made and it behooves people to get their candidate in,” she told San José Spotlight. “It’s a kind of a scary time for people, not only at the local (level), but everywhere.”

Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.