The runoff campaign for San Jose City Council’s District 3 seat is half over, and if campaign is spending any indication, the candidates are off to slow starts.
In contrast to the nearly $1.2 million spent by and for the top three candidates in the initial four-month campaign for the coveted downtown council seat, spending since then or the campaigns of Gabby Chavez-Lopez and Anthony Tordillos totalled just over $70,000 in the most recent reports filed May 15 with the San Jose City Clerk.
The Tordillos campaign has raised more money – $106,995 – in individual contributions in the weeks since the April 8 election than Chavez-Lopez – who reported $66,960 in contributions, plus $17,580 in independent spending by the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council PAC – according to the latest reports filed May 15 with the San Jose City Clerk.
The Chavez-Lopez campaign spent $39,526 in the first weeks of the runoff campaign, and a carryover balance from the earlier campaign left her with just $61,640 cash on hand as of May 15.
The Tordillos campaign reported spending just $12,969 in the same period, leaving it with a $101,240 cash balance for the runoff.
Other than the South Bay Labor Council, the independent political action committees that played such a big role in the run up to the April 8 vote have been quiet.
Common Good Silicon Valley, Sponsored by Solutions Silicon Valley, which spent $75,485 for unsuccessful candidate Matthew Quevedo, has so far spent no money on Tordillos, whose initial campaign was mostly self-funded.
Working Families in Support of Gabby Chavez-Lopez for City Council 2025, which spent $104,000 for Chavez-Lopez, filed a notice that it has terminated its committee. Silicon Valley Biz PAC, which spent $25,255 on Chavez-Lopez in the first three months of the year, reported no new spending. The South Bay Labor Council had spent more than $430,000 for Chavez-Lopez leading up to the April 8 vote.
The two candidates faced off Wednesday and are scheduled again Thursday for their first one-on-one appearances in the runoff campaign: 6-7:30pm todnight at the African American Community Service Agency, 304 N. 6th Street, sponsored by the Silicon Valley Council of Non-Profits; and 4:30-6:30pm, Thursday, at “Downtown Decides District 3 Forum,” at Scott’s Seafood Ballroom, the Rotary Summit Center, 88 S. 4th St., sponsored jointly by the Downtown Association of San Jose, the San Jose Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of San Jose.
The county Registrar of Voters mails out ballots on May 26 for the District 3 runoff, with a return or postmark deadline of June 24.
