The 2018 PAC spending race is off and running in Santa Clara, with the San José-based AFL-CIO Labor Council Committee on Political Education (COPE) PAC investing $10,000 in mailers and field expenses for District 2 City Council candidate Nancy Biagini.
Major donors to the COPE PAC include:
- Sacramento-based Santa Clara County Correctional Peace Officers’ Association PAC – $100,000
- IBEW Local 332 Education Fund – $50,000
- SCC Probation Peace Officers’ Union PAC AFSME Local 1587 – $30,000
- Santa Clara County Joint Electrical Industry Fund Director of Business Development Neil Struthers – $25,000
- Milpitas-District 2 Associates LLC (aka Lyon Housing), Newport Beach – $20,000
- San Jose Firefighters Local 230 PAC – $15,000
- PG&E – $12,000
- Laborers Local Union No. 270 PAC Small Contributor Committee, Sacramento – $10,000
The COPE PAC donation is almost as much as Biagini has collected from direct donations ($14,220), and almost 75 percent of Biagini’s donors are outside Santa Clara.
Candidate for Mayor Lisa Gillmor has also collected some union and PAC money: $590 from the Sacramento-based Plumbers, Steamfitters & Refrigeration Fitter Action Fund; $250 from the California Apartment Association; and $590 from the San Ramon-based Sheet Metal Workers International Association. Over 70 percent of Gillmor’s donors are outside Santa Clara.
Gillmor still leads the money race, now with $18,385 in her war chest.