Herrera Camp Collects, Spends Most Money

District 8 Councilmember Rose Herrera not only raised the most money of any candidate for the San Jose City Council primary in June; she also spent more than any other candidate raised in the five districts.

Semi-annual campaign disclosure forms show that Herrera received $140,523 through June 30 and had $129,317.64 in expenditures. During the filing period of May 20 to June 30, her campaign received almost $52,000 and spent almost $35,000. Also in the most recent filing, Herrera reported to have more than $42,000 in the bank for the November runoff.

Among her 154 contributors in this latest filing period, Herrera received money from a host of real estate, insurance and construction companies. As the Mercury News pointed out in its article today, that list includes: “homebuilders David Neale and Joe Head, developer Mark Lazzarini, construction buccaneer Jim Salata, property owners Lee and Eric Brandenburg, the Sobrato Organization and the Schoennauer Co.” She also received vigorous support form Mayor Chuck Reed and his pro-Measure B coalition, which included Herrera.

Meanwhile, in addition to funding mailers and robocalls, as well as paying her campaign manager Eric Crane, some of Herrera’s more notable expenses went toward paying a select group of people to walk door to door and talk to voters.

Herrera faced daunting opposition in the primary, as labor groups poured tens of thousands of dollars into attack ads to defeat her. Putting a positive face to a candidate with door-to-door walkers is a staple of most campaigns, but having people speak on Herrera’s behalf was especially necessary in this race—even if she did fall just short of the 50 percent plus one vote mark to earn re-election.

Herrera’s opponent in the runoff, Jimmy Nguyen, ran a relatively small budget campaign that obviously benefited from outside sources attacking Herrera. He raised just $2,250 in the final filing period, which included a loan he gave himself for $1,500. In total, Nguyen raised $17,910.69 while only spending $7,428.42.

The third-place finsher, Patricia Martinez-Roach, had a negative balance for contributions in this most recent filing period totaling $350.

Josh Koehn is a former managing editor for San Jose Inside and Metro Silicon Valley.

15 Comments

  1. Hey Herrera, hope you can help PO with his off the chart burglary rate in his district since you both hate the poilce thanks to measure B.

    Hope you checked out the news tonight how crime is on the rise.  Even Chuck had to admit crime is going up. Name it – assualts, homicides, rapes and most of all home burglaries!  We are no longer safe.  Just call 311 to report your house was ransacked beacuse no officer will come.

    Thanks to Chuck plus 5.  We love you city council.

    Hate to see your district crime rate, but you can go to protectsanjose.com to find out!

    I encourgage even district voters to check out their crime rates.  It’s free so shame out of you “I don’t want to know” mentality.  This is what you voted for.

    God bless you, you will need it.  Check out NBC News 11, because SJPD is leaving town as soon as possible for a better life and pay!

    • Don’t let the door… Anyway I, unlike most SJPD live here. I work hard, and am raising a family. My future is here in San Jose. Mayor Reed and others are fighting for the future of this city. I hope he succeeds. Perhaps if you’re not happy working here living somewhere else and collecting money from this town, you might be better off working somewhere else like say Los Banos or something. It’s just a thought.

      • Hi guys, I snuck away to post during my workday here at 1010 The Alameda.
        I just wanna say, I love all my clients but my Repubkican Clients give me my biggest tips.
        Just sayin.

      • It’s so silly to see someone insist that Measure B opponents are not “fighting for the future of this city” like Measure B supporters are. If that’s the kind of rhetoric Measure B supporters, they don’t understand the political differences between themselves and Measure B opponents. It’s not a question of whether you want the future to be decent or not, it’s a question of whether of how much we should cut pensions. Like Measure B supporters, I want a good future for San Jose, but my idea of a good future isn’t one where the contract clause of the US Constitution is willfully violated as a political quick-fix, or a future where San Jose police officers are not moving to other cities, or a future where San Jose spends millions of dollars defending an unjust measure only to have it deemed unconstitutional, as judicial precedent suggests will happen.

      • Aaahhh, people are leaving to find better jobs else where. Haven’t you heard, SJPD is hiring.  I don’t know what you do for a living now, but we need guys like you who love San Jose and mayor Reed, and are willing to put their life on line.

        Let’s go, man up! Send that application in.

      • Thats laughable.  Your assumption that Police and Fire dont “work” because they have time between calls illustrates your ignorance of what they do.  If they didnt care about “your” City, and the job they do, they might be bovine scatologists like yourself.  Before you take to criticizing someone elses line of work, look in the mirror and have an honest discussion as to how valuable you truly are yourself.

    • Yes she is, and how foolish. Insurance companies homebuiders, real estate developers and the Silicon Vally Chamber of Commerce…

      This is same group who funded MEasure B as well as V and W. It is this group who has shot themselves in both feet by supporting Mayor Reed , his allies and his agenda to dismantle the police and fire departments.

      As crime rises and City Services are cut or eliminated Insurance Companies will pay out more,  insrance premiums will increase!  Who will buy what home builders build in a City that has a crime rate that is rising aas fast as police officers and fire fighters are leaving?  And how well is the Silicaoin Valley Chamber of Commerce representing its members when they support cuts to polilce and fire that ulitmately hurt businesses in San Jose? 

      I don’t know when the public at large will wake up to the state of affairs that Reed and his supporters have created – if they are anything like prescient it might take a long time…

      • Dude? 4:02 am? On the surface it looks like you’re living off a trust fund or living in moms basement. Come on man, it just looks bad. I’m for working people – people who work – the ones who pay the taxes in this city and are concerned about the next generation.

  2. Lets see….Vice Unit eliminated=coffee houses have turned into strip clubs/brothels; VCET eliminated=gang crimes (shootings/stabbings/robberies/vandalism/etc) are off the hook; Auto Theft Unit eliminated=dude where’s my car?; Burglary Unit eliminated= Why are my Insurance rates going through the roof; Metro Unit eliminated=increased violence in downtown corridor(prostitution/drug dealing/robberies/encampments/etc)Patrol cutbacks=huge potential for serious injury(thank goodness Measure B eliminated disability)or death.  Mayor Reed was interviewed about the burglary cuts and stated that the increased crime has been an issue for 10 years….Really?….WTF have you been doing for the last 10 years Mr Mayor???I wonder what would happen to the City if officers that are left, stopped working supplemental “band-aid” cars for a week or two?  Stay classy San Jose!!!

  3. Why is Herrera is still a proxy for pension reform?  If Nguyen wants to win, he should have taken away that issue.

    If both candidates have the same stand on pension reform, the race will be decided on the other issues, and one would think that Nguyen would have have advantage there.

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