29000 vs 1million - Public Trust Now

Inside a 2026 Santa Clara District Council Election

CANDIDATE A — voluntary spending limit

$29,590

Opposed by the 49ers · bound by City contribution caps

CANDIDATE B — backed by 49ers-funded outside spending

$1,125,142

$684,173 supporting Candidate B · $440,969 opposing Candidate A

Category	Candidate A's $29,590	Outside spending: $1,125,142	Multiple
Strategy & paid consulting Generals, mail, digital, treasury	$0 Volunteer campaign manager · friends and family advise · candidate makes the calls personally	$205,000 General consultant $90K — 4 months running the campaign, weekly strategy memos, message development, vendor selection, crisis response. · mail consultants $79K — pick voter universes, art-direct each mailer, manage printers, earn 15% commission on mail buy · digital strategist $36K — multi-platform ad targeting, A/B testing, daily optimization	∞
Polling Benchmark, tracking, push polling	$0 Not affordable · campaign decisions made on instinct and door-to-door feedback	$84,000 Benchmark $34K — 400 likely voters, 12-min survey, tests every message before it runs · tracking poll $17K — late October, sets the closing argument · push poll $33K — ~8,000 "informational" calls disguised as research, delivers narrative under cover of polling	∞
Direct mail Design, print, postage	$12,500 2 mailers + walk piece · 5,000 households each · 15,000 pieces total · ~3 mailers per voter household	$172,800 5 positive Candidate B mailers + 6 negative Candidate A mailers · 7,000 households each · 77,000 pieces total · premium stock, full color, large format · ~11 mailers per voter household	14×
Digital ads YouTube, social, programmatic, geo	$2,500 Small Facebook + Google buy, last 4 weeks · ~250K impressions · each voter sees ad ~20 times	$238,500 YouTube $84K · Facebook $73K · programmatic $51K · geofencing $30K · ~22M+ impressions · each voter sees outside-spending ads 1,700+ times	95×
Video production Spots for digital and TV	$0 No produced video	$56,000 2 positive Candidate B spots + 2 negative Candidate A spots · professional crew, multiple cuts for digital and broadcast	∞
Television Cable + connected TV	$0 Out of reach	$118,000 Cable $73K · ~560 spot airings on local news, sports, prime cable in San Jose DMA · streaming $45K · ~1.1M Hulu, Roku, CTV impressions · reaches ~80% of likely voters with 30+ exposures	∞
Field — door to door Door hangers, paid canvassers	$2,700 3 rounds × 5,000 households · 15,000 door hangers · volunteer-knocked	$28,000 Paid 2-week canvass program · ~28,000 doors knocked · scripted pitches + voter ID forms + CRM data capture	10×
Phone & text outreach Calls, texts, robocalls	$900 Texting + phone bank tools · volunteer-staffed · ~10,000 calls/texts	$53,000 Paid phone bank $14K · P2P texting $28K · robocalls $11K · ~560,000+ phone/text contacts across the district	59×
Opposition research & narrative ops Oppo, PR, astroturf, SEO	$0 No professional research · no PR firm · no narrative operation	$94,500 Opp research firm $28K — multi-month investigation; 100-200 page binder of public records, finances, voting history, social media, court records, prior statements · earned media $36K — PR firm pitching stories to journalists, planting op-eds, securing cable hits · astroturf "news" site $14K — domain + WordPress site styled as local news, runs attack content · SEO suppression $17K — Google Ads on Candidate A's name redirecting to negative content	∞
Yard signs Lawn signage	$1,000 200 standard signs @ $5	$6,750 800 oversize Candidate B signs	7×
Photography Stills, B-roll	$500 Headshots and family photos	$5,100 Full Candidate B shoots + B-roll for video	10×
Compliance, legal, treasurer FPPC, Form 460, counsel	$2,400 Part-time bookkeeper $2K — handles Form 460s · candidate signs filings personally — personally liable for any errors · filing fees $400	$42,800 Treasurer $25K — full FPPC service: Form 460s, 24-hour late-contribution reports, pre-election + supplemental filings, payroll for paid staff and vendors · legal counsel $12K — defamation review of every attack ad before it runs, contract review for vendors, FPPC compliance · analytics $5.8K — performance dashboard tracking each dollar's reach across channels	18×
Web, email, voter data Site, list tools, voter file	$1,100 Site $600 + voter file $500	$0 Folded into consulting fees	candidate only
Events, swag, supplies T-shirts, stickers, meetings	$2,100 Swag $1,200 · office supplies $400 · meet-and-greets $500	$0 No candidate-style events	candidate only
Reserve / contingency Final-week needs	$3,900 Last-minute mail or digital	$20,692 Final-week ad spike	5×
TOTAL	$29,590	$1,125,142	38×

The dollar amounts above are not hypothetical. They reflect actual 2022 49ers-funded committee spending in the Santa Clara City Council District 3 race: $684,173 supporting Karen Hardy and $440,969 opposing Christian Pellecchia. Per-category breakdowns are modeled on Northern California rates and standard outside-spending allocation patterns; total exactly matches reported expenditures. The ∞ symbol marks categories where Candidate A spent nothing — not because they chose to, but because the $29,590 voluntary spending limit could not cover them. Candidate A has no professional consultants, no polling, no produced video, no television presence, and no opposition research. The 49ers-funded outside spending pays for all of those.

Access this document