Greg Sellers tops all in fundraising

As the 2018 election inches closer, candidates have been competing to collect contributions for their campaigns.

In the race for mayor, Greg Sellers has raised more than twice as much as opponents combined.

Sellers and one of his opponents, Councilmember Rich Constantine, said they had set fundraising goals at $20,000. Sellers has met his goal, according to reports filed with the city clerk. Constantine has raised about 40 percent of his target. Kirk Bertolet, who is running against Sellers and Constantine, has chosen to self-fund his campaign.

The Fair Political Practices Committee (FPPC), requires candidates to complete a series of forms that declare campaign finance activities in the interest of public transparency. All Morgan Hill candidate’s FPPC filings are available on the city website at https://public.netfile.com/pub2/Default.aspx?aid=MGH.

Sellers reported $20,823 in monetary contributions and $150 in non-monetary contributions. A non-monetary contribution is a service provided to the candidate not at market rate, like a free space to hold a campaign event or rally. The contribution would be what that space would typically cost to rent. In total Sellers has raised $20,973.

Current Councilmember Caitlin Jachimowicz gave $250 to the Sellers campaign. 30th Assembly candidate and current San Benito County Supervisor, Robert Rivas gave $100. The Committee, “Tate for Mayor” also contributed $100.

Sellers received large contributions from, Diane Telfer Property manager South County Realty for $1000, South Valley Internet San Martin for $1500, Mr. Bruce Zhang Real estate broker uBay Corp for $1000, El Toro Group LLC SAN JOSE for $2000 and Fountain Oaks Ranch Morgan Hill for $1000. These are not all of Seller’s filings, others can be found at

Sellers said his acceptance of contributions from Tech companies, real estate agents or developers has no bearing on how he would work as Mayor, but that companies and individuals donated to his campaign because they felt he was a fair candidate.

In his email statement Sellers told the Times, “[The contributors] know that while I will not always support them I will approach issues with an open mind and listen to their thoughts. I had a local real estate broker give me a donation, and I told him at the time that I did not like a project he had recently gotten through the current City Council. He said he understood but was supporting me anyway because he knew I would always be willing to talk and would consider each issue on its merits. That’s what I tried to do when I was on the City Council, and what I will try to do as Mayor.”

In his emailed statement Sellers told the Times, he came up with a $20,000-$25,000 budget he believed he would need to make his campaign possible. Sellers also said he made the decision not to accept money from Political Action Committee and not to self finance his campaign.

He credits meeting contribution goals to local support and said the median campaign contribution for the 110 donors came out to $100.

Some contributions for the Sellers and Constantine campaign overlap.