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With just three months until Election Day, the Board of Supervisors race is closing in as Mountain View City Council member Margaret Abe-Koga and California State Board of Equalization member Sally Lieber vie for the chance to represent District 5 in Santa Clara County.
Abe-Koga continues to outraise and outspend Lieber going into the final stretch of the campaign for county supervisor, a trend that has characterized the race since its early days.
Abe-Koga has raised about $244,000 and spent about $283,000 this year, according to campaign finance statements submitted on July 31. This brings her total campaign fundraising to about $470,000. Abe-Koga has partially self-financed her campaign with a $85,000 loan.
Lieber has raised about $163,000 and spent about $42,000 through June, according to the most recent filings, bringing her total campaign fundraising to about $187,000. A large portion of her campaign was seeded with a $135,000 loan.
Since February, Abe-Koga has raised about $173,000 and spent about $113,000. She amassed contributions from more than 200 individual donors as well as from a large number of political committees and trade unions.
In the same period, Lieber raised about $23,000 and spent about $15,000. Early on in the race, Lieber said that she was running a corporate-free campaign and would not accept donations from big developers or landlords.
Campaign contributions
Some of Abe-Koga’s prominent backers, many of whom have contributed to her campaign before, include Santa Clara County supervisors Cindy Chavez ($1,000), Otto Lee ($1,000) and Susan Ellenberg ($150) and San Mateo County supervisor David Canepa ($250). Abe-Koga also picked up support from U.S. Rep Anna Eshoo ($1000) and Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen ($250).
Other contributions have come in from Los Altos School District trustees Jessica Speiser ($1,000), Shali Sirkay ($500) and Foothill-De Anza Community College District trustee Gilbert Wong ($1,000). Abe-Koga also received support from candidates looking to fill seats on the Mountain View City Council. This includes former Mountain View City Council member Chris Clark ($1,000), Mountain View Whisman School District trustee Devon Conley ($250), and Nicholas Hargis ($145), a congressional aide for U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo.
From political committees, Abe-Koga amassed more than $25,000 in contributions. She picked up support from firefighters, law enforcement and health care workers and a broad coalition of trade union organizations.
The California Real Estate PAC also contributed $1,000 to Abe-Koga’s campaign, as well as prominent developers like Tod Spieker and Robert Wagner, who each gave $1,000.
Lieber’s donations have largely come from about 50 individual contributions, political committees and trade unions. Some of her notable backers include South Bay Progressive Alliance Corporate Free PAC ($1,000), The California Women’s List ($1,000), SEIU Committee of Interns and Resident Physicians ($1,000) and SEIU United Healthcare Workers ($500).
Other donations have come in from Santa Clara County Board of Education member Raeena Lari ($100), former Mountain View City Council member Lenny Siegel ($100), Mountain View Environmental Planning commissioner Alex Nuñez ($125) and María Marroquín, executive director of the Day Worker Center of Mountain View ($250).
Campaign expenditures
Abe-Koga has not only raised more money than Lieber, she also has spent a lot more on the campaign. Abe-Koga’s has doled out nearly $113,000 since February while Lieber has spent about $15,000.
Abe-Koga’s expenditures have gone largely towards campaign literature, mailings and signs, about $44,000, and campaign consulting, about $28,400. Abe-Koga also spent big on social media and phone banks, about $18,900 and $18,200 respectively.
The bulk of Lieber’s expenditures has been for legal and accounting services and information technology costs, at about $8,400 total. Very little has been spent on campaign literature and mailings, only about $1,100.
Abe-Koga’s total expenditures since the start of the campaign has been about $358,000 while Lieber has spent about $69,000.