Santa Clara County Municipal Code Ch. II Campaign and Officeholder Contribution Limits and Voluntary Expenditure…

(a) No person shall make to any candidate for the Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, County Sheriff, or County Assessor, or to such candidate's controlled committee, and no such candidate's controlled committee shall accept from any person, a contribution or contributions totaling more than $500.00 for each election in which the candidate is attempting to be on the ballot or is a write-in candidate for such office.

(b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, if a candidate for the Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, County Sheriff, or County Assessor accepts the expenditure limits set forth in Section A35-3(a), no person shall make to any candidate for the Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, County Sheriff, or County Assessor, or to the candidate's controlled committee, and no candidate for such office or the candidate's controlled committee shall accept from any person a contribution or contributions totaling more than $1,000.00 for each election.

(c) No person shall contribute to a County officeholder, including a Supervisor, District Attorney, Sheriff or Assessor, and no County officeholder shall accept from any person, a contribution or contributions totaling more than $1,000.00 per calendar year for the purpose of defraying expenses related to holding office as defined below in Section A35-2(d).

(d) County officeholders may use contributions made pursuant to Section A35-2(c) ("officeholder funds") for all lawful purposes under state law and regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission, but may not use such officeholder funds to pay "campaign expenses" as defined in California Code of Regulations, Title 2, Section 18525(a)(1)—(4).

(e) Unspent campaign funds from a past campaign shall not count toward the officeholder contribution limit in this section.

(f) The contribution limits of this section do not apply to:

(i) A candidate's or officeholder's expenditure of his or her personal funds for campaign or officeholder purposes respectively; or

(ii) Personal loans made by the candidate or officeholder for campaign or officeholder purposes respectively.

(g) Notwithstanding subsection (f), any payment made by anyone other than the candidate or officeholder to reduce the amount of any loan made for campaign or officeholder purposes shall remain subject to the applicable contribution limits of this section.

(Ord. No. NS-19.38, § 1, 9-13-11; Ord. No. NS-19.40, § 4, 8-27-13)

(a) The County of Santa Clara hereby establishes voluntary expenditure ceilings for candidates for the office of Board of Supervisors, and for the controlled committees of candidates for the Board of Supervisors in the amount of $250,000.00 total expenditure per election for such office, excepting expenditure of personal funds made by the candidate.

The County of Santa Clara hereby establishes voluntary expenditure ceilings for candidates for the office of District Attorney, County Sheriff, and County Assessor, and for the controlled committees of such candidates in the amount of $500,000.00 total expenditure per election for such office, excepting expenditure of personal funds made by the candidate.

(b) Each candidate for the Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, County Sheriff and County Assessor shall file with the Registrar of Voters of the County of Santa Clara a written statement of acceptance or rejection of the voluntary expenditure ceilings before accepting any contributions. Candidates who accept the expenditure ceiling set forth in this section shall not be subject to the contribution limitation set forth in Section A35-2(a) of $500.00, but rather shall be subject to the contribution limits set forth in Section A35-2(b) of $1,000.00.

(c) If a candidate for the Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, County Sheriff or County Assessor declines to accept the voluntary expenditure ceiling set forth in Section A35-3(a) the candidate shall be subject to the contribution limits set forth in Section A35-2(a) of $500.00.

(d) Any candidate for the Board of Supervisors, District Attorney, County Sheriff, or County Assessor who declined to accept the voluntary expenditure ceiling set forth in Section A35-3(a), but who nevertheless did not exceed the recommended spending limits in the primary, special primary, or special election, may file a statement of acceptance of the spending limits for a general or special runoff election within 14 days following the primary, special primary, or special election and receive all the benefits accompanying such an agreement specified in this chapter.

(Ord. No. NS-19.38, § 1, 9-13-11; Ord. No. NS-19.40, § 5, 8-27-13)