López taps into very large donor network

The totals are just one part of the extraordinary story of López ’s far-ranging network of donors.

Of the total López has raised, 76.8% of the funds have come from donors outside San Mateo County — 61.6% of his donors are from the Bay Area, but outside the county; 5.5% are from California, but outside the county; 9.6% of his donors are from out of state.

By contrast, 57% of Gauthier’s donors are from San Mateo County — 33.5% of her donors are from the Bay Area, but outside the county; 7.9% are from California, but outside the county; 1.6% are from outside California.

López and Gauthier, colleagues on the East Palo Alto City Council, are seeking the board seat being vacated by Warren Slocum due to term limits.

Gauthier has served on the East Palo Alto City Council since 2012 and is endorsed by a wide swath of San Mateo County officials, officeholders and leaders, including Slocum.

López was elected to the East Palo Alto City Council in 2020; he opted out of reelection to seek the board seat. His endorsement list is heavily populated with prominent figures outside District 4 and the county.

In an interview Wednesday, López said his array of donors “reflects my journey, my trajectory,” from East Palo Alto to an undergraduate degree at Duke University and postgraduate studies at Rutgers in New Jersey and Oxford. “These are people who have seen my growth” and a commitment to public service and making a better, more inclusive world, he said. Even while campaigning, López, a published poet, is seeking a doctorate in philosophy at Stanford University, with an emphasis on modern thought and literature.

His donors also reflect a nationwide desire for new leadership, spurred by the personal and financial challenges of the last few years and the “worst economic downturn since the Great Depression” triggered by the pandemic, he said.

“2020 was a moment that people saw it was time for a change … they did not want to wait eight years or four years, but they wanted now to pass that torch” to the next generation of leadership, López said.

“I’m proud of my campaign and our individual donors, working class people who want to see a better world. … In my campaign, our North Star is to make this county livable for all,” he said.

López’s network appears to include a substantial number of donors from the Muslim community, which has not played a high-profile role in county politics until now.

López said he converted to Islam in 2015, while a student at Duke University. He saw rising antisemitism and anti-Muslim activities and even violence and “the question of the Muslim experience in America was in full display.” Innately curious, he looked into the faith “and really felt called to the religion and its mantra of justice and mercy.” Nine years later, his faith speaks to him as he pursues political office via the “concept of outreach. The idea is to educate people. So much of my lived experience ... (has been about) educating people on what the religion is and what the religion isn’t.”

He acknowledged that this part of his journey has brought him in contact with people who have seen him change and grow in his vision of service and how it is influenced by his faith.

“I don’t ask people their religious orientation,” he said. “As a Latino, I see so many similarities, growing up in East Palo Alto, how much in common everyone is. That’s so much why my father came to this country (from Mexico). The want to have a chance for a better life for their families.”

Donations have grown out of his own network of friends and associates and “reflect a desire to be seen, a desire to be part of the political process and for change. This campaign is about inclusivity and bringing everyone together,” López said.

Muslim Americans “are just like any other Americans who want to advocate for better resources for their family, for a better future for their children and their children’s children,” he said.

Addressing directly my questions about the emergence of the Muslim community as a network of support in this campaign, López said, “I am cautious about putting them on a pedestal of being different. It’s all about the American dream.”

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.