By Robert Haugh
SFGATE Sports Editor Alex Simon has written a thorough and well-researched look at the 49ers’ continuing effort to influence Santa Clara elections.
Simon’s story goes beyond reporting the team’s latest campaign spending.
He puts the nearly $1 million the 49ers have already committed to the 2026 election into the larger context of the team’s political spending. And what has happened at City Hall since 49ers-backed candidates gained a Council majority in 2020.
The 49ers put $645,000 into an independent expenditure committee supporting mayoral candidate Gary Ferraris and opposing David Kertes and Kathy Watanabe.
The team put another $335,000 into a committee supporting District 2 candidate Kimberley Williams and opposing Yvonne Inciarte.
That’s $980,000 before the campaign has even entered its final two months.
Simon also notes that the 49ers had spent $13.1 million on Santa Clara politics by 2023, with additional spending since then.
That history matters because the 2022 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury examined what happened after the 49ers-backed Council majority took power.
The Grand Jury found that the voting bloc known as the “49er Five” voted “in a manner that is favorable to the 49ers.” It also found that members frequently met privately with 49ers lobbyists near the time of Council meetings and raised concerns about whether the team was effectively influencing Stadium Authority policy without sufficient public transparency. (Santa Clara Superior Court)
And the team has gotten a return on their investment.
In 2019, the City attempted to terminate the contract allowing the 49ers management company to manage stadium operations. The 49ers sued. After the Council majority changed, the litigation was settled in 2022 and the team was allowed to continue managing Levi’s Stadium and booking non-NFL events.
There was also a dispute over parking. The City contended the 49ers owed $718,000 for using a City-owned golf course for stadium parking. According to the Grand Jury, the 49ers offered $350,000 to settle the case and the Council voting bloc accepted the offer. The Grand Jury reported that the settlement did not even cover the City’s legal fees.
The Grand Jury also found that 49ers lobbyists told members of the Council majority they wanted both City Manager Deanna Santana and City Attorney Brian Doyle removed.
Both were subsequently fired by the Council majority. The two officials had raised concerns about stadium finances, contractual compliance, conflicts of interest and potential City exposure from FIFA events.
Not every 49ers effort has succeeded. As Simon points out, the team supported changing Santa Clara’s elected Police Chief and City Clerk into appointed positions, but voters rejected the proposal.
Simon’s story connects the 49ers’ money to a much longer history of the team’s political spending and what they got in return from the candidates they elected.
In 2026, Santa Clara voters will once again decide how much influence the 49ers should have over the people who govern the City.
Just a daily PSA and reminder that Gary is a MAGA Republican.
PJ Brown
Aug 20, 2026 at 11:15PM
Gary is a MAGA Republican. He and his wife have been hardcore Trump supporters since 2016. I can’t believe the South Bay Labor Council, among others, would support a MAGA candidate during times like these. He is the last person we need as Santa Clara’s mayor.
Not to mention, he is 100% a 49ers candidate. Ellie Caple from the 49ers has openly talked about how the team is backing Gary and Kimberly in all of our upcoming races in Santa Clara, already showing treasonous behavior. Elijah Lefkow, also from the 49ers, has built a close relationship with Dave Bini from SBLC, and that’s how SBLC is endorsing these illegitimate candidates for these positions. Sad news.
We need to elect people who will change the Republican Supreme Court that bends over backwards to make it easy for greedy private interests to monopolize politics. We need true community leaders who are not interesting in the 49ers dirty money.
Apparently perceived power is all that matters to too many people in politics. That goes for both sides, the payor and the payee.
Whenever an ad paid for by the 49ers appears, everyone should think “these people are supported by a guy who was ready to purchase the services of a potential victim of sex trafficking.” Combatting sex trafficking has been a feature of NFL rhetoric for years. Even today the Chronicle reported a quote from Brock Purdy: “Tebow is doing work to stop human sex trafficking, and he’s saving babies in Africa and he’s hiring Special Forces to catch sexual predators.” How much hypocrisy are Santa Clara voters willing to tolerate? Why would a Santa Clara candidate for office want to be associated with these people?
I noticed that Gary Ferraris deflects when asked about “outside money” that supports him. He claims he has no control over it which is true, however he does nothing to push back against it and speak out against it. Why, because the money that they put up to “support” him pays for cool stuff like TV commercials that are currently inundating our TVs in a daily basis.
In my opinion, his lack of pushing back against the support is his approval of accepting it.
I’ll continue to say that if a candidate is supported by Jed York, run in the opposite direction.