The money race

The biggest surprise in the reports is López’s surging and significant lead in the money race. Through mid-January, he raised $124,735, Gauthier raised $84,507 and Cornejo raised $38,577.

In office only two years, López nonetheless brought to the campaign an entirely new network of donors from throughout California, the nation and the world, listing donors as geographically far-flung as London, England, Alaska, Minnesota, North Carolina and New York City. In contrast, he has raised only $8,700 from within District 4 — a scant 7.4%.

López, a graduate student at Stanford University, said via email that his wide-ranging donors reflect “the past twelve years pursuing higher education,” which connected him to “a diverse number of wonderful leaders across sectors.” He said many are first-time donors.

His donor base notwithstanding, López said he was born and raised in the district and has “strong roots” there.

Of the remaining two candidates, nonprofit manager Paul Bocanegra raised $22,299, including a personal loan of $4,000. Project manager Celeste Brevard opted not to fundraise. “I am relying on old fashioned pounding of the pavement, calling, and texting carried out by myself and volunteers,” she said via email. “Having strong effective community leadership shouldn’t rely on who can raise and spend the most.”

It often does, however, and the latest reports demonstrate that López has injected himself into the front-running ranks in a race that insiders were beginning to see as a contest between Gauthier and Cornejo.

López, Gauthier and Cornejo were virtually even in cash on hand for the final two months of the campaign — Gauthier had $26,387, López had $25,780 and Cornejo had $20,400.

Their fundraising reports reflect their own respective political strengths. Gauthier remains the mainstream establishment candidate, whose $1,000 donors include Slocum, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, state Sen. Josh Becker, assemblymembers Marc Berman and Diane Papan and Supervisor David Canepa. Gauthier also received $500 from former Supervisor Don Horsley in what may well have been his last campaign donation before his death in November.

Cornejo, while lagging behind in money, has embraced the campaign model that proved successful for Supervisor Noelia Corzo in her race for the board two years ago. Corzo also trailed in money and endorsements, but had a strong precinct-level effort that proved a critical element of her win. Cornejo has been endorsed by Corzo (who also endorsed López) and by Sheriff Christina Corpus, and has built a similar grassroots-level effort under the leadership of Irving Torres, who played the same role for Corzo and then Corpus in her upset victory two years ago. Not incidentally, while Slocum has endorsed Gauthier, Cornejo received $1,000 donations from two former colleagues from when she was on Slocum’s staff.

Bocanegra also received $1,000 from Becker. A leader in Fixin’ San Mateo County, the group seeking civilian oversight of the Sheriff’s Office, Bocanegra received $500 from Fixin’ Executive Director Nancy Goodban and $450 from Fixin’ Board Chair Jim Lawrence.

NOLO CONTENDERE: Yes, there was grumbling from some circles when former U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier jumped into the race for the District 1 Board seat being vacated by Dave Pine due to term limits.

No doubt, you will be relieved to know that the political establishment had no such qualms. Indeed, there was a scramble to give her money she most assuredly does not need.

Through mid-January, Speier raised more than $116,846, spent more than $72,000 and had nearly $60,000 on hand. She raised more than half her money — $64,000 — in $1,000 donations; donors include Eshoo, U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin and a veritable who’s who of San Mateo County politics and public affairs. Speier received $8,000 from high-powered attorney and political bigwig Joseph Cotchett and associates from his law firm.

Speier received $7,400 in donations for a general election runoff that will not happen.

First, her lone opponent is Millbrae Councilmember Ann Schneider, which means someone will get the majority of the vote on March.

And Schneider filed no spending reports, which suggests she also has opted not to fundraise. She did not respond to a request for comment.

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.