A brilliant PAC funded primarily by former New York mayor and billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg transferred greater than $100,000 to an excellent PAC that bankrolled the stunning Congressional District 16 race, recent campaign finance filings show.
The two-and-a-half week recount requested by voters within the race to switch U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo began on April 15. The recount of greater than 182,000 votes resulted in a stalemate between Rep. Evan Low and Santa Clara County Executive Joe Simitian, and Low is now running against former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo in the overall election.
But a number of days before the recount began, a pro-Liccardo super PAC called Neighbors for Results began funneling money into Count the Vote: the super PAC that funded the recount.
Between April 12 and April 17, Neighbors for Results donated $102,000 to Count the Vote, in line with its May campaign finance filings. Both super PACs name Matthew Alvarez of Rutan and Tucker as treasurer.
Alvarez couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The pro-Liccardo super PAC spent greater than $500,000 in the first in support of the previous mayor and lists just three donors: former NetApp CEO Daniel Warmenhoven, Cypress Semiconductor Thurman founder John Rodgers and Bloomberg.
The former New York mayor and billionaire philanthropist is the super PAC's largest donor, donating $500,000 in February. Warmenhoven donated $50,000 and Rodgers donated $15,000.
Bloomberg and Liccardo have been politically linked for several years. In 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies included San Jose in a two-year program to assist town meet its climate goals when Liccardo was mayor. A 12 months later, Liccardo supported Bloomberg's presidential bid and served as California co-chair of his campaign.
Spokespeople for Bloomberg and Liccardo weren’t immediately available for comment.
The recount was estimated to cost several hundred thousand dollars, and the remaining donors who helped finance the recount are expected to be disclosed in the following quarterly campaign finance report in July.
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