The primary election is still nearly a year away but the two leading contenders to replace Assemblyman Rich Gordon in Sacramento are off to a fast start, with each raising more than $100,000 and picking up a list of endorsements from regional dignitaries.
So far, Palo Alto Councilman Marc Berman has the fundraising edge over Mountain View Councilman Mike Kasperzak. As of June 30, Berman had a campaign chest of $180,248, compared to Kasperzak's $104,427. Since January, Berman has received $134,123 in contributions, while Kasperzak received $108,099.
Berman has also outspent Kasperzak in the early part of the campaign, having spent $15,382 so far this year compared to Kasperzak's $3,674.
The amounts for each candidate include loans that each has made in recent weeks to his own campaign. Kasperzak loaned his campaign $36,000 in late June, finance documents show. Berman loaned $50,000 to his campaign, a contribution that he said was also made late last month.
Both council members are vying to replace Gordon, who will term out of the Assembly next year. While Kasperzak this weekend released a list of dozens of current and former mayors and council members who have endorsed his campaign, Berman last month secured Gordon's endorsement. And while Kasperzak is emphasizing his 14 years of experience on the Mountain View council, Berman was lauded by Gordon as a member of the "next generation of community leaders."
Though the race is just getting started, Berman has the early edge. In his announcement Tuesday, Berman noted that he has received contributions from more than 285 donors, from all corners of the district (he was preparing to file his campaign disclosure forms later in the day). Kasperzak said he received support from more than 80 contributors, a list that he said includes family, friends, businesses, technology executives and developers.
Developers and builders are by far the largest group of contributors to the Kasperzak campaign. According to Kasperzak's campaign disclosure, the list of developers who contributed to his campaign includes Adam Kate, John Mozart, TMG Partners, Andrew Hudacek, Robert Freed, Steve Dostart, John Hagestad and Geoffrey Stack.
He also received $1,000 from developer John McNellis and another $1,000 from George Marcus, co-founder of commercial real state firm Marcus & Millichap. Kasperzak also received $4,200 from a San Francisco-based entity called MGP IX REIT. John Foster and Craig Vought, from the real estate developer Broadreach Capital Partners, have each also contributed $4,200. Phillip Francis Maritz, also of Broadreach, gave another $3,200. Prometheus Real Estate Group made three contributions, totaling $8,400 between them. The Sobrato Organization gave another $1,000, as have the firms ZCON Builders and SCM Construction Management Services, Inc.
Kasperzak also received a few contributions from Berman's turf, including $500 from Bruce Swenson, a trustee at the Foothill-DeAnza Community College District; and $1,000 from former Palo Alto utilities commissioner John Melton. Palo Alto Councilwoman Liz Kniss, who often shares Berman's positions behind the dais, nevertheless gave $500 to Kasperzak's campaign (both Melton and Kniss hedged their bets by also contributing to Berman).
Berman's list of contributors includes a mix of attorneys, technologists, venture capitalists, community volunteers and past and present elected officials. These include former Palo Alto mayors Nancy Shepherd, Larry Klein and Helene Wheeler and Berman's current council colleague Greg Scharff, also a former mayor. Berman has also received $1,000 contributions from Palo Alto architect Daniel Garber, a former planning commissioner; realtor Michael Dreyfus; attorney Kate Downing, who currently serves on Palo Alto's planning commission; venture capitalist John Freidenrich of Regis Management Company; Tarken Maner, CEO of the tech company Nexenta. Sean Crocket, chief operating officer of Healthvana, contributed $2,000.
Kasperzak, a two-time Mountain View mayor, said in his announcement over the weekend that his campaign has "vastly exceeded" its fundraising goal for the first half of the year.
"I am proud of our efforts and humbled by the generosity of friends and supporters," Kasperzak said in a statement. "We will continue to work hard at all aspects of this campaign, including fundraising, but my real passion is interacting with the residents of this district and discussing the issues of education, health care, water conservation, our local economy and the environment."
Berman, an attorney who has been serving on the Palo Alto council since 2012 and who briefly considered challenging Gordon for the Assembly bid in 2010, also said he was pleased with the early fundraising figures, which he said indicate his campaign's growing momentum.
"Our campaign's contribution list is a reflection of our district and of my deep roots and experience here in our community," Berman said.
"I'm excited to have received contributions from such a diverse group of over 285 donors, from tech executives to teachers, venture capitalists to community volunteers," Berman said. "Our campaign's contribution list is a reflection of our district and of my deep roots and experience here in our community."
The 24th Assembly District includes Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Woodside, Portola Valley, Atherton, Half Moon Bay and portions of Cupertino and the San Mateo County Coast.
Comments
Sylvan Park
on Jul 21, 2015 at 4:21 pm
on Jul 21, 2015 at 4:21 pm
Kasperzak taking money from big developers? I'm shocked...shocked I tell you!
Let's hope he wins and gets out of MV. Just another fat cat lining his pockets at the expense of the citizens of Mountain View.
Monta Loma
on Jul 21, 2015 at 4:41 pm
on Jul 21, 2015 at 4:41 pm
developers know to whom they should contribute and by whom they will benefit ---mike kasperzak
what we need in the area is more development and traffic and pollution etc
The Crossings
on Jul 21, 2015 at 9:12 pm
on Jul 21, 2015 at 9:12 pm
I hope we're smart enough to avoid sending Kasperzak anywhere that will give him the opportunity to screw things up more than he has screwed up Mountain View.
Where do we send money to his opponent?
Old Mountain View
on Jul 21, 2015 at 11:04 pm
on Jul 21, 2015 at 11:04 pm
Kasperzak's record on the city council speaks loud and clear.
He has been a very good friend to developers in MV, and has almost always voted to give them whatever they want. He seems enthralled with big money, and the power that comes with it. I would not expect anything different if he were elected to the Assembly.
The last city council election was polluted with dark money from developers, routed deceptively, and used for the benefit of several candidates. I wouldn't be surprised to see this happen again - although Kasperzak seems to have no compunctions about taking their money directly, and publicly.
Sylvan Park
on Jul 24, 2015 at 7:20 am
on Jul 24, 2015 at 7:20 am
The same story appears in the sister newspaper, the Palo Alto Weekly, with no comments posted. It appears that comments are not being allowed there.
Old Mountain View
on Jul 24, 2015 at 12:09 pm
on Jul 24, 2015 at 12:09 pm
Gary, what are you talking about? The Palo Alto Town-Square image of this same article has gotten comments ever since it appeared, Tuesday morning -- far more comments so far than this Mountain View version. (And the latest one there, as of this writing, is from a "Gary" in MV, contemporaneous with your comment right above.) Web Link
Sylvan Park
on Jul 27, 2015 at 11:41 pm
on Jul 27, 2015 at 11:41 pm
Thanks Common Sense. I see the comments on your link but not when I look it up otherwise. I not know how it works. I also posted a comment on the same story in the Menlo Park Almanac. Is there any hope of any more candidates - other than Margaret Abe-Koga who has also been an advocate of restricting lanes on El Camino to VTA buses only?