San Jose candidates’ campaign dollars grow as election nears

San Jose’s three competitive City Council races have seen a surge in campaign donations since the June primary election, as six candidates battle it out ahead of November, according to the latest round of campaign filings.

The roughly $240,000 in direct contributions raised between July 1 and Sept. 19 — which represents nearly a third of all such fundraising since campaigning began last year — will shape the course of the runoff elections unfolding in District 5, District 7 and District 9.

In District 9, licensed marriage and family therapist Genny Altwer has held onto her fundraising advantage, even as the pace of donations has increased for longtime Public Works Department employee Gordon Chester.

Campaign filings show Altwer, who finished first in the crowded June primary with 35.5% of the vote, has raised $183,216 since launching her campaign, including a $15,000 personal loan. Chester, who secured 22.2% of the June vote, has raised $54,775, a figure that marks a near doubling of his campaign’s financial support since July. Chester has also contributed $4,000 as a personal loan.

“Since July, 66% of my campaign contributions have been $100 or less,” Chester told San José Spotlight. “We don’t have a big payroll; we have volunteers.”

Altwer and Chester are running to replace terming out Vice Mayor Pam Foley as the representative for the suburban district that includes the neighborhoods of Hillsdale, Cambrian Park and a southern portion of Willow Glen.

“Too many City Hall insiders haven’t delivered for our communities, and this support clearly shows our neighbors have had enough,” Altwer told San José Spotlight.

Meanwhile, the candidates’ donor lists have also become a flashpoint in the race, as both campaigns seek to link the other to controversial policy positions.

The Chester camp is highlighting a number of Altwer donors who are active in Republican politics, including five who hold leadership roles on the Santa Clara County Republican Central Committee, according to a campaign representative.

Altwer scoffed at her opponent’s line of attack, noting she has received endorsements from South Bay Congressman Sam Liccardo, a Democrat, and Planned Parenthood.

Her campaign also questioned Chester’s public safety commitment, seizing on the support he has received from the South Bay Progressive Alliance. In 2020, amidst countrywide calls for criminal justice reform, the organization backed a campaign urging San Jose to defund the city’s police department and reallocate the money to community services. Chester said he does not support defunding the police, but does favor expanding the city’s options to provide non-police responses to emergencies.

In the acrimonious District 7 race between incumbent Bien Doan and East Side Union High School District trustee Van Le, the funding picture has remained fairly stable since June.

Doan — who finished with 47.8% of the vote in the primary compared to Le’s 22.4% — continues to outraise his opponent, having drawn in $189,884 in direct donations, including a $20,000 personal loan. Le has raised $119,286 and also contributed to her campaign with a $30,000 loan.

Doan’s campaign has also gotten a boost from business-aligned political groups, including the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses PAC, which has spent more than $150,000 to aid his candidacy.

“Fundraising helps us reach voters, but the conversations at their doors are what keep this campaign moving,” Le told San José Spotlight. “We’re continuing to canvass, listen and work to earn every vote through Election Day.”

The campaign to represent a district that encompasses portions of central and East San Jose, and is home to a sizable Vietnamese population, has featured fierce broadsides from both campaigns, as the candidates attempt to position themselves as unifying figures in a historically fractious district. District 7 voters haven’t reelected an incumbent councilmember for a second term in more than a decade.

“People are donating because I’ve stood up against new taxes and rising costs, fought for public safety to make San Jose the safest big city in America again and helped lower homelessness by 32% with ideas like interim and pre-engineered modular shelter,” Doan told San José Spotlight.

In District 5, incumbent Councilmember Peter Ortiz has managed to cement his substantial funding lead, despite an uptick in donations for the challenger in the race, former San Jose Councilmember and Assemblymember Nora Campos.

Ortiz, who finished first in June with 44.9% of the vote, has accumulated $222,060 in direct donations, including a $300 personal loan. Campos — who is seeking a rematch against Ortiz after her failed bid for the District 5 seat in 2022 — has raised $100,572, roughly 40% of which flowed into her campaign coffers over just the last three months. Campos has loaned $3,000 to her campaign.

Ortiz has received significant support from labor-backed groups. The largest spender, the political committee backed by the South Bay Labor Council, has spent more than $143,000 to boost his campaign.

Campos attributed her funding support to growing frustration among East San Jose voters over a range of persistent quality of life challenges, such as housing affordability, crime, neighborhood blight and a lack of economic opportunity.

“My campaign is not about special interests, it’s about the people that live in the district,” Campos told San José Spotlight. “The support we’re seeing tells me voters are ready for change.”

Meanwhile, Ortiz has sought to persuade voters that over his time in office he has delivered on a range of promises, including measures to cut down on crime, protect immigrants and boost economic investment in the district.

“We have received donations from almost 500 donors ranging from $10 to the max amount,” Ortiz told San José Spotlight. “We’re utilizing these funds to communicate with voters in a positive way about how I’ve been working to improve the quality of life for District 5 voters and small business owners.”

Contact Keith Menconi at [email protected] or @KeithMenconi on X.