Supervisor race draws majority of local campaign money

Lea este artículo en español aquí.

A key race to fill a vacant seat on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors in the Nov. 3 election has attracted the majority of the $54,000 that has been pumped into local campaigns, according to campaign finance reporting.

The winner of the District 5 seat could significantly impact how the county moves forward, since the current board is typically split on key decisions. 

According to candidates’ financial reports, the District 5 supervisor race has accumulated $40,000 for campaign coffers. Two of the three candidates are largely relying on self-funding. 

Former Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez, who is seeking to finish his initial term in office after being recalled in the June primary, leads with $16,169 in contributions, $15,000 of it in loans to himself. 

Candidate Rodney Bianchi reported receiving $14,399, with the majority of the funds coming from Tony and Cathy Alameda ($3,000), farmer William Quinlan ($2,500) and El Nopal Bakery ($2,000). 

The Alameda contribution surpasses the $2,500 limit set by the San Benito County Board of Supervisors earlier this year. Chief Deputy Clerk-Recorder Ana De Castro Maquiz said this is the first time a candidate has exceeded the limit and that her office would ask Bianchi to return $500 to the donor. 

Bianchi told BenitoLink he was not aware of the limit and that he intended to return the excess funds to the Alamedas.

Unlike Hollister, which since 2024 has followed state guidelines on individual campaign contribution limits of $5,900 per election, San Benito County reduced the individual contribution threshold to $2,500 in January. 

Supervisors who supported the change argued it would limit the influence of special interests in local elections. 

For his campaign, District 5 supervisorial candidate John Williams reported loaning himself $5,450 of the $9,446 he reported in contributions. 

Hollister enacted a $250 limit per election in 2021, citing transparency benefits, but it was repealed in 2024. At the time, council members said it gave an advantage to candidates who could fund their own campaigns over those who relied on donations.

Two of the three Hollister mayoral candidates, Scott McPhail and Tina Garza, did not file a financial report, according to the city’s election finance portal. 

McPhail said he is most likely not going to file a report because he is not asking the public “for a dime” for the election. 

“As of right now, I’ve spent zero on the election or anything,” he said. However, before filing his candidacy papers, he took campaign-type signs to a Hollister City Council meeting where he spoke about his experience as a cannabis business owner with the permitting department. 

California law requires candidates who receive or spend $2,000 or more to file a financial report that identifies contributors and expenditures.

Late statements and reports are subject to a fine of $10 per day for each paper and electronic version, according to the Fair Political Practice Commission’s 2026 filing schedule for the Nov. 3 election. It also states that failure to file a report could result in a $5,000 penalty per violation.

Former councilmember Tim Burns loaned himself $2,852 for his campaign. 

Burns told BenitoLink he has also received about $3,000 in contributions but did not include them in his report because he has yet to deposit it to his campaign bank account. He added that those funds would be reflected in the next report, which is due on Oct. 22.

Garza did not immediately respond to BenitoLink’s request for comment. 

Councilmember Dolores Morales has raised $18,300 since August for her reelection bid for District 3, according to her financial report. All the donations have come from six labor unions.

Her challenger, former Hollister city manager Bill Avera, said he doesn’t intend to accept campaign contributions, therefore won’t need to file a financial report. Avera said he intends to self-fund his campaign because he “did not want to feel indebted to anyone” if he is elected. 

Hollister City Council District 2 candidate Brian Chavez reported raising $2,980, which includes a loan to himself of $975.

Council candidate Frida Benjamin said she did not file a report because she didn’t reach the $2,000 threshold. She declined to disclose how much her campaign has raised so far.

We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website covering San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and to providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.