49ers shell out $700K for Cindy Chavez's mayor bid

After spending $1.5 million this year on local elections, the San Francisco 49ers are filling up their war chest ahead of Election Day, making a whopping $1.2 million in contributions in just the last week to committees backing Santa Clara and San Jose candidates.

On Wednesday, the NFL team poured $400,000 into its independent expenditure committee to support Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez's San Jose mayoral bid. The contribution is the second made by the team this year to a pro-Chavez committee. In April, the team contributed $300,000 to its primary committee.

“We're proud to continue our support of Supervisor Chavez, and are confident in her unwavering leadership on pressing issues like housing affordability and public safety that will put San Jose, and the greater South Bay, in a position to succeed for years to come,” spokesperson Rahul Chandhok said in a statement to the Mercury News.

San Jose is set to receive its first new mayor in eight years on Nov.8 as Mayor Sam Liccardo terms out. Chavez is facing off with San Jose City Councilmember and former tech entrepreneur Matt Mahan.

Mahan has been the top fundraiser throughout the course of the election, bringing in $672,914.40 for the latest reporting period, which ran from July 1 to Sept. 24. His campaign has raised more than $1.4 million this year. Chavez trails not too far behind, raising $557,679.79 this period and roughly $1.3 million this year.

With a little bit over a month to go until Election Day, Chavez has scooped up the endorsements of the entire council, minus Mahan, while her competitor has been endorsed by the current mayor himself.

Mahan called the $400,000 contribution a “billion-dollar business making a massive investment in a career politician for a reason.”

“They have already tried to buy the city council in Santa Clara and now they are trying to buy San Jose City Hall,” he said in a statement. “You can be a fan of the Niners, as am I, but still oppose this kind of obvious pay-to-play politics — exactly the kind of pay-to-play behavior that has been the hallmark of Cindy Chavez's entire political career.”

Chavez could not be reached for comment.

Former Mayor Tom McEnery, who has endorsed Mahan, told the Mercury News that the contribution was “unhealthy” for San Jose politics, which he says has had a tradition of political reform.

“It has the appearance of buying support and we don't need any other examples of how people can feel disheartened and suspicious of government,” he said.

Following a $1.2 million spending spree in Santa Clara, the NFL team has contributed an additional $837,471 to its committees supporting Councilmember Anthony Becker's mayoral bid and Councilmembers Karen Hardy and Raj Chahal's re-elections. Some of the money has also gone to committees set up to oppose the trio's adversaries: Mayor Lisa Gillmor, former board chair of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce Christian Pellecchia and longtime resident Larry McColloch, respectively. Television advertisements on the races have already been spotted by political observers.

Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University, said it's “understandable” that the 49ers would want to play in Santa Clara politics since its home to Levi's Stadium.

As to why they've ventured into San Jose, he doesn't have the answer but said it's a “fair question” for voters to ask.

“In any election it behooves the voters to know not only the candidates' capabilities and objectives for the city, but also to know whose behind them and why and what it means,” Gerston said. “That doesn't mean there is necessarily malicious intent, but it's just an important thing to do.”

Despite the huge sums of money coming in to support them, some Santa Clara councilmembers have been critical of the team's meddling in local elections.

Chahal previously told the Mercury News that he hoped there was “no political spending by any entity, including developers and the 49ers,” while Becker called the focus on independent expenditures “disappointing,” emphasizing that he has “not taken a dime” from the team, nor has he asked them for anything.

This year's spending, which could reach $2.7 million if the 49ers empty out their entire war chest, is on pace with the team's contributions during the 2020 election.

Two years ago, 49ers owner Jed York contributed $3 million to the political action Citizens for Efficient Government and Full Voting, whose stated mission was to bring diversity to the Santa Clara City Council.

The PAC supported current Vice Mayor Suds Jain and Councilmembers Kevin Park and Becker, as well as local activist Harbir Bhatia whose run was unsuccessful.

The same year, the team also spent $300,000 helping defeat a Santa Clara ballot initiative that was trying to change how councilmembers are elected.

Critics of the team have accused the 49ers in the past of trying to buy votes in Santa Clara. In 2020, Gillmor called the PAC contributions “obscene.”