San Jose Looks To Limit Foreign Influence In Elections

By Jana Kadah, San Jose Spotlight

March 21, 2022

San Jose is looking to limit foreign influence in campaigns and close some contribution loopholes.

On Tuesday, the City Council will consider prohibiting foreign-influenced corporations or donors, with no stake in San Jose, from making contributions to local elections.

“The intention is to close loopholes, increase transparency and create accountability,” said Lam Nguyen, spokesperson for Councilmember David Cohen, who was not available for comment. “One of the primary influencing forces on politics at all levels is money and knowing where that money is coming from gives a clearer sense of the stake the donor has.”

The foreign-influenced corporations proposal is coming before the council now so the new rules, if passed, can be applied to the general election in November, Nguyen told San José Spotlight.

Cohen, along with Councilmembers Pam Foley, Sergio Jimenez and Sylvia Arenas, want the city to define foreign-influenced corporations and ban them from donating based on various parameters that relate to foreign ownership and participation in political activities.

The effort is part of a larger discussion happening at council to make campaigns more fair and transparent following a heated and costly 2020 election. San Jose has toyed with the idea of a pilot program to publicly finance campaigns and make campaign mailers disclose who the top donors are in an effort to show who is paying for ads. These ideas will come before council at a later date.

Federal and state laws already prohibit foreign individuals—other than green card holders—governments, companies and other groups from making contributions or independent expenditures to candidates. However, foreign companies with domestic subsidiaries can make donations as long as the donations are made by a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

Cities such as Seattle, Washington and St. Petersburg, Florida have implemented stricter campaign finance rules to limit outside influence. San Jose is looking to model its regulations after those cities.

It’s not clear how much influence foreign corporations or entities have in San Jose politics, or which corporations these rules would impact. But even a small number of corporations could have an impact, said Garrick Percival, a political science professor at San Jose State University.

“In a democracy, we have an interest in promoting equal participation,” Percival told San José Spotlight. “When you have a disproportionate amount of influence from a small number of well-resourced actors or corporations, it can skew policy.”

In terms of the foreign-influence rules, the time to act is now, as Foley said each election “signifies the renewal of our democracy.”

“The laws by which our elections currently operate leave gaps for foreign entities to use and abuse our democracy against us,” Foley told San José Spotlight. “This effort seeks to fill that gap, secure our democracy and lay the foundation for stronger, more secure elections, free of foreign interference in the 21st century.”

The City Council will discuss these rules at its Tuesday meeting. Learn how to watch and participate.

Contact Jana Kadah at jana@sanjosespotlight.com or @Jana_Kadah on Twitter.

This story will be updated.

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