The special election for the District 3 San Jose City Council seat is Tuesday, with stakeholders spending their final dollars to help elect the next downtown representative.
In campaign finance filings posted Monday, Planning Commission Chair Anthony Tordillos grew his lead to almost $100,000 ahead of Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley Executive Director Gabby Chavez-Lopez. The filings cover June 8 through June 23 and are the last look at candidates’ finances ahead of tomorrow’s election.
Tordillos is going into Election Day having raised $360,734 total, and Chavez-Lopez is trailing with $261,028. Both have spent the vast majority of their funds to campaign, leaving Tordillos with $11,973 on hand and Chavez-Lopez with $28,780.
Kurt Frewing, Tordillos’ spokesperson, said the campaign is proud to have received this swell of support leading into the election.
“Our campaign has already crushed the special interests and pundits’ expectations, and thanks to our hundreds of grassroots donors and volunteers, we’ll do so again on June 24,” Frewing told San José Spotlight.
Chavez-Lopez said she hasn’t seen an impact from the fundraising distance, because the voters she’s spoken with have been mostly supportive. She said her campaign has received grassroots support directly from voters, small businesses and other community members, while her opponent has mostly self-funded his campaign.
“It’s never just been about me and writing myself a check, it’s been about the community,” Chavez-Lopez told San José Spotlight. “I think our campaign has always reflected the leader that I have been in this community.”
Over the course of the campaign, Tordillos gave $210,000 to his own committee, $20,000 of which was marked as a loan. Frewing said Tordillos grew up in the working class and is now an example of the “American Dream.” Tordillos worked at Google for 11 years as an engineering manager before leaving to focus on his campaign.
Frewing said voters don’t trust Chavez-Lopez because of the support she’s received from corporations such as PG&E. Chavez-Lopez has faced criticism for having a PG&E executive help with campaign events, while a political action committee (PAC) bankrolled by the utility company independently supported her candidacy. She has denied receiving support from corporations or representatives from PG&E.
Chavez-Lopez placed first in the April 8 primary election and held a strong lead with about 29% of the vote. Tordillos placed second after a recount knocked Matthew Quevedo, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Matt Mahan, out of the running. The candidates are vying to fill the District 3 council seat following the arrest and resignation of former Councilmember Omar Torres last November related to child sex crimes.
Special interests
Seven PACs spent more than $800,000 ahead of the April primary election, namely supporting Chavez-Lopez or Quevedo. While most committees slowed their spending after that, special interest support for Tordillos has jumped in the week leading up to Election Day.
Four PACs have lined up to back Tordillos, including the Bay Area Municipal Elections Committee, which endorsed Tordillos and spent $34,836 to support his campaign. The San Jose Police Officers Association PAC has spent $29,051 to support Tordillos and $8,209 to oppose Chavez-Lopez.
Common Good Silicon Valley, a PAC created in 2021 by freshman Congressmember and former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, spent thousands to support Quevedo ahead of the April election. Following Mahan’s endorsement of Tordillos in May, the PAC spent $15,000 to support Tordillos and $10,000 to oppose Chavez-Lopez.
A new special interest group formed June 10 — Californians Working Together to Support Tordillos for City Council 2025 Sponsored by Labor Organizations — has spent more than $39,000 so far supporting Tordillos. It’s funded by unions that have endorsed Tordillos, including Operating Engineers Local 3 and the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, as well as developers such as Bayview Development Group, Inc.
Chavez-Lopez is endorsed by the South Bay Labor Council, which has spent more than $500,000 since the start of her campaign to get her elected.
Before the April primary election, the committee Working Families in Support of Gabby Chavez-Lopez for City Council 2025 spent about $51,000 supporting Chavez-Lopez and opposing Quevedo before terminating on April 25. It was primarily funded by large companies, including PG&E, Chevron and Walmart.
Chavez-Lopez has also been the target of more than $320,000 in opposition spending from multiple business stakeholders, including the Silicon Valley Biz PAC and California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee.
Editor’s note: A past version of this story said the police union’s PAC supported both candidates based on incorrect filings.
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X.
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