49ers spend millions on council races in Santa Clara

SAN JOSE, California. – Special interest groups have invested millions of dollars in Santa Clara’s November municipal elections to decide the future government.

The San Francisco 49ers have spent the most money supporting whoever the team wants on the city council, burning through $2.3 million to date.

Other special interest groups include the Santa Clara Police Officers Association, Santa Clara Firefighters Union and developer Related Santa Clara. The police union is the second-largest spender, pouring more than $96,000 into council races. The 49ers have spent money mainly to oppose candidates supported by Mayor Lisa Gillmor and the police union – and support its favorite candidates. Meanwhile, the police union has spent money to support its efforts and antagonize others.

The Santa Clara City Council has four seats up for grabs in Districts 1, 4, 5 and 6 on Nov. 5. District 1 Councilmember Kathy Watanabe declares, with three candidates vying for a seat. The other three districts have incumbents seeking another term.

Council members Kevin Park, Suds Jain and Anthony Becker are running for re-election. Former Councilwoman Teresa O’Neill is challenging Park for his District 4 seat, David Kertes is running against Jain in District 5 and Kelly Cox and George Guerra are both challenging Becker for his District 6 seat. Harbir Bhatia, Satish Chandra and Albert Gonzalez is vying for the open seat in District 1.

Santa Clara voters will also have to choose their next one police chief and city managerwith both seats open this year. Lt. Cory Morgan of the Santa Clara Police Department is competing against Lt. Mario Brasil of the San Jose Police Department to take over as Chief Pat Nikolai retires. City Clerk Hosam Haggag has not filed for re-election, and product manager Poornima Gopi, real estate agent Steve Kelly, retired California Highway Patrol Lt. Robert O’Keefe and businessman Paul Tacci are vying for the open seat.

The 49ers

Santa Clara voters are no strangers to high election spending, especially among the 49ers. In 2022, the team spent more than $4 million Helping Becker challenge Gillmor for the mayor’s seat, and supporting council members Raj Chahal and Karen Hardy in their re-election campaigns. While Becker was defeatedChahal and Hardy both won a second term.

This year, the NFL team has opened its wallet again. The millions spent have bought polls, consultants, mailers, copy and online advertisements. The team is opposing Gillmor-backed candidates Chandra, O’Neill, Kertes and Cox – and supporting Gonzalez, Park, Jain and Guerra.

Ellie Caple, a spokesperson for the 49ers, declined to comment on the significant sum of money and reiterated her support for the team’s favored prospects.

“Our organization is proud to continue supporting a diverse set of candidates for City Council this year,” Caple told San José Spotlight. “We are pleased to see that the current council has effectively managed the city’s finances, reduced the city’s deficit and continues to serve our community.”

Advertisements on Facebook and websites promote candidates’ track records and experience. For Gonzalez and Guerra, it was their experience on the boards of the Santa Clara Unified School District and the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, respectively. Facebook ads also reveal arguments against other candidates, like Chandra’s past support for former President Donald Trump, despite Chandra’s cancellation.

The 49ers’ push against Gillmor’s candidates isn’t surprising in light of their decade-long feud, which included multiple lawsuits and cost the city millions.

Related Santa Clara

Related Santa Clara, a local division of New York City real estate firm The Related Companies, has a major stake in Santa Clara. The developer has been working on an estimate $8 billion mixed-use project next to Levi’s Stadium, and has been a Gillmor supporter for many years.

Related Santa Clara representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

When California was pushing Related to pay workers the prevailing wages in 2022, Gillmor wrote a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom asking the state to reconsider. Related then spent six figures to support her re-election.

On Oct. 15, Related reported expenses made by the end of Sept. 30 — apparently in violation of state law, which requires independent expenditures of $1,000 or more to be filed within 24 hours within 90 days of an election.

This year, Related formed a committee to support Chandra, O’Neill, Kertes and Cox, and spent $90,000 on advertising to support these candidates. That money went to mailers, Facebook ads and a website.

The Santa Clara Police Officers Association and Firefighters Union

Police union president Jeremy Schmidt said residents should pay attention to who is supporting which candidates in this election, stressing that the association has residents’ interests at heart.

“I don’t really care where their support comes from, I am committed to doing what is right for my organization and what is right for the people of the city of Santa Clara. I can tell you that me and my people spend our lives on the line every day to prove it,” Schmidt told San José Spotlight. “We don’t just stick our hands in the city’s cash pile.”

The association has endorsed Chandra, O’Neill, Kertes and Cox, spending money to support them but also to oppose other candidates. This included Facebook ads, websites and mailers.

Advertisements on Facebook, paid for by the police union, showed the three Santa Clara Civil Grand Jury reports about the city and the municipal government. They repeat the claims made in the report by the three incumbents – Park, Jain and Becker – bullied public commentatorsand emphasized that Becker will continue perjury trial.

Although the police union is the second largest spender, it has only spent about $96,000 so far.

“If you look at the campaign overall, we’re in a David versus Goliath position in terms of financing,” Schmidt said. “We just have to be strategic about what we do and when we do it because we really have a responsibility to maximize our dollar based on the playing field.”

Representatives of the firefighters union did not respond to requests for comment. The union, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1171, spent $31,067 to support Cox, Kertes and O’Neill, as well as the $400 million infrastructure bond.

This story first appeared in San Jose Spotlight.