BY KYLE MARTIN
Daily Post Staff Writer
The two incumbent Mountain View City Council candidates outraised all seven other challengers
vying for this race’s four open seats on the council.
Mayor and Councilwoman Margaret Abe-Koga leads the pack of candidates with fellow incumbent Lisa Matichak and former mayor and councilwoman Pat Showalter following closely behind.
Abe-Koga to date has raised $30,272.66 in campaign contributions ahead of Matichak’s $28,505 and Showalter’s $25,693, according to finance forms.
Between Sept. 20 and Oct. 17, Abe-Koga received $2,556 in contributions, including $500 from San Jose’s Democratic Activists for Women Now, $500 from the special interest group DRIVE out of Washington, D.C., $250 from Mountain View retiree Peter Wang, $200 from Mountain View attorney Nancy Gee, $200 from a committee for Sue Chan’s 2018 Ohlone Community College Trustee campaign, $150 from Kaiser Permanente Government Relations Manager Hanh Mo of Milpitas, $100 from Easy Foods Company owner Wei Lan Wong, $100 from Google engineer Warren Yenson from Mountain View and more.
Abe-Koga also touts local union support, having previously received $1,000 from Plumbers, Steamfitters, Refrigeration Fitters Local 393 and $500 from the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council. She also received $250 from Josh Becker’s state senate campaign and $1,000 assemblyman Evan Low.
Realtors, unions back Matichak
However, Matichak, with tens of thousands of dollars spent on her campaign already by Realtors and unions alike, raised just $385 over the last month, according to campaign finance documents.
Matichak received just two $100 contributions this period, one each from the Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley in Mountain View and the California League of Conservation Voters in San Jose, and another $185 in random cash donations less than $100 each. She also listed a $577 non-monetary in-kind contribution from the Mountain View Professional Firefighters PAC based out of American Canyon.
The National Association of Realtors earlier this election set up an independent expenditure committee and spent $29,070 to support Matichak. She also previously got a direct donation from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee for $2,000.
In addition, she received $1,000 each from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 332 and the Plumbers, Steamfitters and Refrigeration Fitters Local 393.
Challengers not far behind
Showalter has raised $25,693, raking in $3,120 this period.
She received a $600 labor contribution from Santa Clara County’s service workers union, SEIU Local 521, $500 from the Democratic Activists for Women Now in San Jose, $250 from Mountain View independent consultant Kathy Thibodeaux, $250 from Benjamin Longcor, a Mountain View engineer, $150 Carol Kuiper, an unemployed Los Alto resident, $100 from the Santa Clara League of Conservation Voters and more.
Alex Nunez, a housing activist and cybersecurity advisor at UpGuard Inc., has raised $23,092.50, receiving $500 from Santa Clara Valley Water District board member Gary Kremen, $200 from Mountain View librarian Randi Ross, $100 from Stanford Associate Dean Stephen Olson, who lives in Mountain View, and more.
Former assemblywoman Sally Lieber raised $20,488. Her donors include $500 from Mountain View resident William Boyle, $100 from Palo Alto resident Stacey Ashlund, $600 from SEIU Local 521, $250 from Mountain View Whisman School Board member Devon Conley, $100 from the Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley and $250 from Assemblyman Evan Low.
Former mayor Lenny Siegel has raised $18,856.99. His contributors include $100 from Palo Alto resident Mark Weiss, $150 from retired Mountain View resident Steve Schramm, $250 from Snap Inc. engineer Benjamin Dodson, $240 from Portland, Maryland resident William Black and $100 from resident Bing Huo.
John Lashlee, a senior data scientist at LinkedIn, raised $15,958.
His contributors include $500 from Mountain View resident William Boyle, $676 from Cupertino engineer Julius Cheng, $500 from Google engineer Scott Haiden, $811 from Google engineer Alexander Brown and $312 from LinkedIn engineer Michael Leong.
Paul Roales,a software engineer at Waymo, raised $14,706. However, over the past month, he has only gotten a contribution from Mountain View resident David Babulak for $100.
Council candidate Jose Gutierrez, a Mountain View Whisman school board member, raised $8,000 including a $2,500 loan he gave himself in August. His most recent finance forms had been not uploaded to the city’s website.
Councilmen Chris Clark and John McAlister are both termed out this year.
