Follow The Money: Silicon Valley's 2022 General Election

By Tran Nguyen, San Jose Spotlight

September 30, 2022

It’s election season in Silicon Valley, with several key county positions and three San Jose City Council seats up for grabs in the November election.

The race to replace Mayor Sam Liccardo, who terms out at the end of the year, continues to be the most heated and costly contest—the two remaining candidates have collectively raised more than $1.78 million since June.

San Jose will also elect representatives for three council seats—Districts 3, 5, and 7—which could potentially shake up the longstanding power split between business interests and labor unions on the City Council. Incumbent Councilmember Pam Foley won her reelection campaign in District 9, while school board member Rosemary Kamei won the race to represent District 1.

At the county level, two candidates are vying for the Board of Supervisors District 1 seat to represent San Jose neighborhoods including Evergreen and Silver Creek, Coyote Valley and the cities of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy. Incumbent Supervisor Susan Ellenberg won her reelection campaign in District 4.

The top county law enforcement job is also open, with incumbent Sheriff Laurie Smith not seeking reelection. Longtime Assessor Larry Stone and District Attorney Jeff Rosen both secured their jobs after being challenged in the June primary election.

Jump to a section: Mayor, District 3, District 5, District 7, Santa Clara County District 1, Sheriff, PAC.

Local political action committees (PAC) will also play a key role this cycle. PAC spending in the mayoral race exceeded $1 million in the primary election.

A San Jose mayoral candidate has gotten more than half a million dollars in support from six PACs in the November race. A PAC representing business interests is also spending big bucks to help boost the other candidate’s campaign.

Per city rules, individuals must cap contributions at $700 per council candidate and $1,400 for mayoral candidates. Candidates can only fundraise between June 8 and Nov. 7.

Candidates running in county races can fundraise year-round. The cap on contributions is $1,000. There’s no spending limits for independent expenditures and PACs running political ads in support of or against candidates.

San José Spotlight is following the money and will update this page routinely. The data on candidates below is for the period of June 7 through Sept. 24. PAC spending has been updated through Sept. 30.

Mayor

The race for San Jose mayor is the most contested—and expensive—competition this election.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez and San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan are vying for the seat after beating out four other candidates.

District 3

Incumbent Councilmember Peralez, who has represented the downtown district for eight years, is terming out. Two candidates, business owner Irene Smith and San Jose-Evergreen Community College District trustee Omar Torres are fighting for the seat.

District 5

One of the most highly-anticipated and contested council races is the fight for the East San Jose seat in District 5. Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco terms out at the end of this year.

Former Assemblymember Nora Campos faces off Santa Clara County Board of Education President Peter Ortiz for the seat.

District 7

Incumbent Councilmember Maya Esparza is fighting to keep her seat in District 7, as San Jose Fire Captain Bien Doan is also vying for the seat.

Santa Clara County Supervisor District 1

With Supervisor Mike Wasserman terming out at the end of the year, former San Jose Councilmember Johnny Khamis and San Jose Councilmember Sylvia Arenas are competing to replace him.

After the county adopted new political boundaries last year through redistricting, District 1 no longer has the conservative strongholds of Almaden Valley and Los Gatos within its borders.

Sheriff

Santa Clara County is getting a new sheriff for the first time in more than two decades, following Laurie Smith’s decision to not run for a seventh term.

Retired sheriff Cpt. Kevin Jensen and former Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen beat out three other candidates and are facing off in the November election.

Political action committees

A handful of PACs are raising funds—and spending big—to support candidates in this year's election cycle. So far, six different PACs, including those backed by the San Francisco 49ers football team, San Jose’s police union and former Bloom Energy executive Carl Guardino, have spent more than $563,000 supporting Chavez’s mayoral campaign.

Common Good Silicon Valley, a PAC formed by Liccardo, and the Silicon Valley Biz PAC have collectively spent at least $358,000 to boost Mahan’s mayoral campaign and attack Chavez’s candidacy.

Labor-backed candidates in Districts 3 and 5 are also seeing some PAC spending to help their campaigns.

Contact Tran Nguyen at tran@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @nguyenntrann on Twitter.

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