The Democratic Central Committee voted last week to speed up its endorsement process, giving the group two more months to rally behind its chosen San Jose mayoral candidate (hint: Dave Cortese). As a result, some candidates who would be up for consideration—but unlikely to win the endorsement—are now saying they didn’t want the committee’s backing in the first place.

San Jose councilmembers and mayoral candidates Rose Herrera and Pierluigi Oliverio, both registered Democrats and the latter an elected member of the DCC, announced Tuesday that they won’t submit their names for consideration. That soft-clap you hear is actually Cortese tap dancing in glee.

Councilman Sam Liccardo, who managed to raise $512,000 in just the first month of his campaign for mayor, says he’s still debating whether to vie for the endorsement, which comes with formidable financial and logistical resources that have historically aligned with the South Bay Labor Council. Cindy Chavez benefited in her county supervisor race last year by coordinating with the DCC and SBLC after getting a sole endorsement.

That leaves just Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen as the last elected Democrat in the mayor’s race, and she says she wants to see the questionnaire before deciding whether to participate. Herrera, who urged others to boycott the committee’s endorsement, frames her opt-out as taking a stand against partisan politics.

“Big-money special interests changed the rules so they can get around San Jose’s contribution limits,” she says.