ElectionsSan Jose
Election 2022: How to find the money trail in San Jose campaigns
by Tran Nguyen
Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez and San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan are competing to be the next mayor of San Jose. File photo.
This story is part of a project called Democracy Day, in which newsrooms across the country are shining a light on threats to democracy and what action is needed to protect it.
As San Jose inches closer to picking a new mayor this November, the race between two candidates to replace outgoing Mayor Sam Liccardo is heating up.
San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan and Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez are facing off for the seat. Mahan has secured the endorsement of Liccardo—and the political action committee he formed. Chavez gained the backing of labor unions, some business leaders and all of the San Jose City Council except for Mahan and Liccardo.
The high profile race has become one of the most expensive contests in recent Silicon Valley history. The four frontrunners had collectively raised more than $2.5 million within five months of campaigning before it was whittled down to two candidates after the June primary. San José Spotlight has been tracking the fundraising efforts—and spending—of these two campaigns.
In this guide, we'll show how to make sense of the campaigns' finances, who is funding the mayoral candidates and how they are spending money to sway voters.
All candidates running in San Jose elections must follow both state and local laws regulating campaign fundraising and report spending to the city clerk, who then makes the information public.
State laws require candidates to report their campaign finances through two documents, form 460 and form 497. Form 460 is an overview of a campaign's activities during a specific period. Campaigns must file 460s four times during an election.
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Form 497, also known as the 24-hour contribution report, documents contributions of at least $1,000. Campaigns are required to file these reports within 24 hours of receiving contributions in the last 90 days of the election.
San Jose also has a limit for how much an individual can contribute to a candidate's campaign. Per city rules, an individual must cap their contribution at $1,400 per mayoral candidate.
Political action committees (PAC)—such as Common Good Silicon Valley and South Bay Labor Council—follow similar state laws requiring them to report fundraising efforts through forms 460 and 497. The committees are also required to report any spending over $1,000 within 24 hours through form 496.
PACs aren't limited on how much they can raise—and spend—in elections, under local rules. Special interests collectively spent more than $1.5 million on Chavez and Mahan in the primary election.
Candidates and PACs can only fundraise within a specific timeframe. For the general election, that's between June 8 and midnight of Nov. 7.
Where to find the reports
For San Jose races, all financial documents can be found on the city web portal, which is updated daily by the city clerk.
You can search the documents by candidate name, election, district or type of form. The portal also has an advanced search option to help narrow down the exact report you're looking for.
The portal contains all local campaign records dating back to 2019.
San Jose's web portal for election campaign filings.
Making sense of campaign finance statements
Form 460, also known as the campaign statement, can be confusing—and often long—but you can navigate it by understanding the different schedules in it.
The report is most helpful in providing an overall understanding of a campaign's spending and contributions during a specific timeframe.
For the November election, campaigns are required to file the first round of statements by July 31. This round covered campaign activity in the month of June after the primary election. The next deadlines are Sept. 29, Oct. 27 and Nov. 7.
To find an overview of a campaign's finances, look to page 3 of these reports. This page includes information such as the exact amount a campaign has received and spent, as well as the money it has on hand. These are items 5, 11 and 16 on the page.
Below is an example from Mahan's latest campaign statement.
An overview of the finances of Mahan's campaign.
There are two important portions to pay attention to—Schedules A and E.
Under the finance statements, campaigns must also report information on its contributions—including date received, names, general addresses, occupations if applicable and amount contributed. This information is listed under Schedule A. Some candidates also report contribution refunds—if an individual accidentally gave more than the city's limit of $1,400 for mayoral candidates—in this section.
Schedule A provides a glimpse into who is supporting a candidate. Here's an example from Chavez's campaign, with R-22 referring to runoff election and P-22 referring to primary election. Schedule A is usually the longest part in the report.
An example of Schedule A in Chavez's finance statement.
To track a campaign's spending, check Schedule E. Campaigns must report all expenses made during the reporting period, including entities being paid, general addresses, type of services and amount paid. Campaigns must disclose the nature of expenses—such as fundraising events, professional services and campaign consultants—or describe the services.
These expenses can shed light on what a campaign is prioritizing and how aggressive a campaign is. Below is an example from Chavez's campaign:
An example of Schedule E in Chavez's finance statement.
Other requirements under this statement:
Schedule B shows if candidates loaned money to their campaigns—and how much.
Schedule C reports all non-monetary services given to the campaign, such as food for events.
Schedule F shows any unpaid bills more than $100 within the reporting period.
Schedule G shows payments made by campaign consultants or contractors.
These steps are also applicable when tracking PAC activities. PAC 24-hour expense forms are known as form 496.
This form discloses whether a PAC is spending money to support or oppose a candidate and details expenses of at least $1,000. It also includes how much a PAC has collectively spent on a candidate. This is especially crucial to examine close to the election, as it often reveals how a PAC is boosting or attacking a campaign.
Below is a screenshot of the daily expense forms filed by local special interests five days before the June primary election:
Daily expense forms filed by political action committees leading up to the June primary election.
Campaigns can make changes to their reports if they find errors in the initial filings. Those changes can found under forms 460-A, 496-A and 497-A.
To keep track of the election, the city has also published all the deadlines for campaigns under this calendar.
Contact Tran Nguyen at [email protected] or follow @nguyenntrann on Twitter.
AJ Sep 15, 2022 at 11:43AM
I was leaning towards Mahan, but a Liccardo endorsement has me leaning towards Chavez now.
One Perspective Sep 15, 2022 at 12:25PM
Matthew Mahan is Sam Liccardo's answer to term limits. They are as close to the same person as possible. Not only does Liccardo endorse him, but Mahan is backed by the same donors and the same political consulting company, StoreFront Media, which helped Liccardo run in 2014 and still advises him (the same company that came up with the messaging that Mahan is a "change" candidate). Both are also products of San Jose's elite, no-girls-allowed prep school, Bellarmine.
My_Opinion Sep 16, 2022 at 1:51AM
It really goes a bit deeper. Mahan has been pushing Liccardo's agenda since day 1.
Remember this: Liccardo said he plans to run for Congress in 2024.
Electing Chavez will keep Liccardo from having a third term as Mayor.
GBEF Sep 15, 2022 at 6:31PM
If you were leaning towards Mahan, just because Liccardo doesn't want to see Cindy in the mayor's seat (any more than so many others who are disgusted with her) is hardly reason enough to change your mind.
It's all about Anybody But Cindy, and that means Matt Mahan. Hold your nose when you vote if that's what it takes, but Cindy's habit of playing favorites with cronyist back room dealing would make even Ron Gonzales blush.
That was one of our top reasons for deciding to vote for Chavez. We feel voting for Mahan would be a third term for Liccardo from behind the scenes.
JohnMichael O'Connor Sep 16, 2022 at 8:38PM
So do you really want what four more years of Cindy has done and not done for her first sixteen years in office? She has been a major part of the problems with SJ and SCC, not part of the solutions to our increasing problems under her watch and the bloc she is part of.
Or are you just so turned off by Sam that you'll put up with more of the same from Cindy?
You and several others seem to be fixated on Sam's endorsement rather than the issues. Seems like an extremely narrow outlook.
My_Opinion Sep 18, 2022 at 6:36PM
Do you want 8 more years of Liccardo? That's what we would get with Mahan.
Bear person Sep 19, 2022 at 7:35AM
The fixation of " my opinion" is not just Liccardo, , it's the constant barrage of insults directed at Mahan.
Voting for Chavez could be disastrous, but let's just keep beating the " inexperienced" and Liccardo clone drum.
Vote for Chavez and move on. We all have our own opinions, and will vote accordingly.
Sally Sep 17, 2022 at 2:09AM
This situation with these two candidates doesn't seem either will be a plus for San Jose no matter who we pick unfortunately. Matt is endorsed by Liccardo,so that means Liccardo will get his wish.As he said he wanted San Jose to continue to follow in his steps. Cindy has been backed by no other than Liccardo's highschool bud the owner of Energy Bloom. Who became the candidate without considering the other competition mysteriously by Liccardo. To run his business in the city. They were to chose one he got it. So that kind of makes me think we have the two of both evils. Then there Cindy's past dealings… So!!!
Carmen Figueroa Sep 20, 2022 at 7:42AM
Good thinking! 👍
William Ashbless Sep 15, 2022 at 3:39PM
So, Democracy Day seems legit. Why is it that news outlets have totally corrupt members of the bureaucratic establishment on their boards of directors?
Jill Borders Sep 16, 2022 at 3:37AM
Excellent comment!
And it's always the same group of people on city task forces, boards, commissions, etc., on all these boards too.
The usual suspects have run it all for too long. By many metrics, San Jose is a worse place to live than it was four years ago, eight years ago.
MP Sep 15, 2022 at 4:08PM
To the comment that Supervisor Mahan is a Mini-Me of Mayor Liccardo, and that both went to Bellermine, it is also worth noting that both went to Harvard.
Yes, Liccardo and Mahan not only went to Harvard, but Matt Mahan lived in the same dorm with Mark Zuckerberg and they were friends.
Mahan is a elitist. He throws around the "H" (Harvard) word everywhere he can to gain influence.
So, what exactly does that mean, IYO?
Wow. Since when did having good educations become a negative? Too many complaints regarding " privledge" not enough people looking at the actual campaigns.
Myke Sep 15, 2022 at 9:23PM
You can say the same about Presentation High School and Notre Dame High in San Jose.
It's girls only. NO-BOYS ALLOWED.
One Perspective Sep 16, 2022 at 3:20PM
How many mayors or top candidates for mayor have gone to Bellarmine? Tom McEnery, Dave Cortese, Sam Liccardo, Matt Mahan… How many came from Presentation?
It's a gendered version of "separate but equal." People can just point to Presentation as a defense of Bellarmine, when women are absolutely suffering lifelong career setbacks in the valley for not being able to join the boy's club.
You are correct. Personally, I'm tired of the same "good ol' boy's club" running the city. It's time for a woman who has the experience of working within the city and county being elected.
Let's keep in mind….whoever is elected mayor in this election will only be mayor for 2 years, not 4. Maybe Mahan can grow into the job of Council member by that time and have experience.
Thanks Myke. Yet no one goes on and on about privledge at the girls schools. Too much negative press regarding Bellarmine. If you don't like the school, don't send your sons there.
Jules Sep 16, 2022 at 8:45AM
Thanks, Spotlight. This was a really nice walk through how the average person can do primary research on campaign donations/expenses.
Agreed. That said, SJS' choice of which of a zillion file photos they could have chosen of each candidate shows the SJS bias toward Cindy.
Debra Wray Sep 16, 2022 at 10:49AM
We really have some "Green" minded people commenting on this article,
Green with Envy that is.
So blinded by envy they want to discount a highly educated and real world experienced candidate, maybe because they failed to take advantage of their K-12 education opportunities, and now make up the majority of California voters that vote on emotion, jealousy and apparent hear-say.
Bellarmine?, Harvard?, a Dorm Room?
these are your negatives? – the school means naught, it is what you studied and what you learned at school and in the real world, working a real job or running a real business.
These comments are laughable at first, but also sad, some of these "Opinions" have such self-aggrandized views, one would think they fancy themselves as the oracle of San Jose politics.
The main point they push seems to be "I'm So Envious" I'm going to vote for more incompetent and unaccountable politicians to continue the decline of San Jose.
Sounds like those opinions belong on the'Alex Jones' program of local politics.
If you think that kids who didn't go to a $40,000 a year prep school just "failed to take advantage of their K-12 education opportunities," I've got a bridge to sell you. There is nothing wrong with wanting a mayor who represents YOU, not the wealthiest members of your community, and there is nothing wrong with pointing out how all of the people from this elite school continuously assist each other in their contests against people from regular backgrounds. I'm not envious, but I'm tired of being walked over by other people because their parents set them up to be able to.
Exactly. Agree most of these comments are sad, and definitely green with envy.
Evil Clown Sep 16, 2022 at 2:38PM
What matters is what they will do in office.
This other stuff is campaign noise.
What they will do:
Cindy will represent developers/unions on the council.
Matt will be an empty chair. He's already on the council, so he's already done everything he'll do.
Pick which undesirable you prefer and pay better attention during the primaries.
Debra Wray Sep 16, 2022 at 8:19PM
Santa Clara is having their annual Wine Festival this weekend in Central Park.
Maybe the "whiners" can join up and continue to opine about the candidate's education backgrounds and more candidate "who knows who" ?
The informed voters will focus on the candidate's track records and ideas,
but no one thinks the over 2 decades on the taxpayer's account by Cindy Chavez, with a record of not much to show for except decline in quality of life, is the San Jose way forward.
Please enlighten us poor folks who have no understanding because we didn't attend elite high schools, colleges, or pal around with elites.
Tell us what Mahan HAS accomplished as a Council member, NOT what he says he will do,
Of course that's the card you will always play. Stop disparaging him for his supposed privledge.
Op-ed: Public Records Act enforcement needed more than ever January 31, 2023