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Incumbent Jack Balch raised $11,300 toward his re-election bid between July 1 and Sept. 19, bringing in more than three times as much as challenger Julie Testa in the same period, according to campaign finance filings.
Testa, a sitting City Councilmember who has repeatedly stated she does not want to be bought out by special-interest groups, raised about $3,000, mostly from residents, the filings show.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission requires two pre-election campaign-finance disclosures from candidates who raise or spend $2,000 or more. The first was due Sept. 24, covering July 1-Sept. 19. The second, due Oct. 22, covers Sept. 20-Oct. 17.
The initial set of filings paints a clear picture of who is funding the mayoral, City Council and Pleasanton Unified School District board races, from individual donors to real-estate political action committees and even a couple of fuel companies based locally. The filings also show District 1 City Council candidate Vin Kruttiventi spending big on his own campaign, with a $25,000 donation to himself that accounts for nearly all of his fundraising in the filing period.
Balch outraising and outspending Testa in mayor’s race
Balch has raised a total of $25,326 since Jan. 1, according to the filings. Three Pleasanton residents donated $1,000 in the most recent filing period: Theodore Fong, president and CEO of Silicon Genesis Corporation, also known as SiGen; retiree Harriet Fong; and retiree Frank Slootman, all of Pleasanton.
Other notable contributions listed in the filings include $500 each from realtor Cindy Gee, real-estate agent and president of Redwood Park Properties Daniel Dunkley and Austin Freight and Cargo owner Michael Austin, all of whom are Pleasanton residents. Balch also received separate $499 contributions from Lafayette-based fuel companies California Fuel Supply and Gawfco Enterprises and a $300 contribution from Councilmember Craig Eicher.
Most of the other contributions Balch received between July and September were from retired residents who donated between $35 and $400. An additional form submitted Sept. 30 to the California Fair Political Practices Commission shows a $1,000 contribution to Balch’s campaign from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee, which is based in Los Angeles.
Two other recent documents, dated Oct. 2 and Oct. 4, list five $1,000 donations from individual Pleasanton residents, the majority of whom describe themselves as self-employed. One of those was Stephanie Wedge, a former Pleasanton Planning Commissioner.
The Oct. 4 campaign finance document also shows a $3,500 contribution from Pleasanton resident Jasjeet Singh, president of Trans-Alliance, LLC.
In 2025, Balch raised just over $32,000 toward his campaign.
California Fair Political Practices Commission filings show Balch spent about $19,263 from July 1 to Sept. 19, including paying about $3,260 to the Embarcadero Media Foundation for advertising; about $2,948 to Hummel Signs in Grass Valley; and $2,500 to the Tucker Group, a Pleasant Hill-based full-service strategic communications and political consulting firm.
Testa is seeking to unseat Balch as she terms off the council after eight years; city policy does not allow councilmembers to serve more than two consecutive terms.
Her $2,936 fundraising total from July 1 to Sept. 19 includes $990 each from retirees Shirley Lewandowski of Dublin and Paulette Goodrich of Pleasanton. She also received $365 from retiree Ronald Horner of Pleasanton and $200 from former Pleasanton Mayor Karla Brown.
The only group listed as a contributor to Testa’s campaign is Catalysts for Local Control, a grassroots citizen organization based in Mill Valley that advocates for local control of housing and land use, an issue that Testa has been very vocal about during her time on the dais. The group donated $125.
Testa spent about $1,613 in the most recent filing period, primarily in expenses to Copy World in Berkeley. Testa was the only mayoral candidate to sign the city’s candidate intention statement in August, accepting a voluntary expenditure ceiling.
Kruttiventi more than doubles Narum’s fundraising with donation to himself
In the race to represent District 1 on the Pleasanton City Council, business executive Vin Kruttiventi on Sept. 9 donated $25,000 to his own campaign, accounting for nearly all of the money raised by Sept. 19.
The only other contribution listed was a $500 donation from David Miller, a Pleasanton resident and president of Evergreen Venture Group, a private investment enterprise.
Kruttiventi has spent about $17,525 on his campaign since Jan. 1, including $6,924 to the Embarcadero Media Foundation for advertising; several thousand dollars to CopyWorld in Berkeley; and $900 to Vottiv, a political-campaign management software company.
His opponent, former City Council member Kathy Narum, raised just over $10,000 in the initial filing period, half of which came out of her own pocket.
Narum also listed $500 contributions from Susan Houghton, the founder of the Sunflower Hill nonprofit; Jim Merryman, founder of Casino Mine Ranch Winery; retired Pleasanton resident Andrew Gelb; and Dunkley, who also supported Balch’s campaign.
In a more recent filing from Sept. 30, Narum listed a $1,000 donation from the California Real Estate PAC.
Narum spent about $3,833 in the most recent filing period, including $1,519 to Insignia Designs in Pleasanton.
Gupta leads Yee in fundraising in District 3 race
In the District 3 City Council race between former school board trustee Jamie Yee and business advocate Reena Gupta, Gupta raised about $9,500 between July 1 and Sept. 19, for a total of $15,800 this year.
Her top donations were $990 each from Dheeraj Nallagatla, a Hayward resident and founder of information technology products and services company Dataflix, and San Mateo resident Timothy Draper, a manager at Draper Associates, which invests in artificial intelligence and other technology.
Gupta also received hundreds of smaller contributions from workers in the technology industry and from residents in Pleasanton, Fremont, Livermore, San Ramon and other parts of the Bay Area.
She spent about $5,304 from July 1 to Sept. 19, including $1,185 to VistaPrint.
Yee, meanwhile, raised just over $7,500 from July 1 to Sept. 19, including a $2,000 donation to herself. She has raised roughly $10,500 total since Jan. 1. Most of her contributions in the most recent filing period came from Pleasanton residents, although she received a few donations from people living in Oakland, Dublin and other cities in the Bay Area.
Yee’s top contributions included $500 each from Ken Benhamou, owner of SAS German Auto in Pleasanton; resident Joe Callahan, who also donated to Balch’s campaign; and resident Sheila Vincent, an insurance agent.
Like Balch, Yee received contributions of $499 each from Lafayette-based fuel companies California Fuel Supply and Gawfco Enterprises. In a more recent filing from Oct. 5, Yee noted a $1,000 contribution from the California Real Estate PAC, which is also supporting Narum and Balch’s campaigns.
Yee spent about $3,471 during the reporting period, mostly on the candidate filing fee, graphic design and printing services and lawn signs.
Committee supports Measure HH; no fundraising reported in school board race
Pleasanton residents will also vote this November on Measure HH, a transient occupancy tax rate increase that would raise the city’s hotel tax rate from 8% to 12% by the end of 2028. At the 12% rate, the tax is expected to generate an additional $3 million annually to the city’s general fund.
No groups reported raising money to fight the measure, according to campaign finance filings. One committee, called the Friends of Pleasanton – Yes on Measure HH, has raised nearly $5,000 to support the measure. Donors to that committee in the most recent filing period include Balch, Narum and Eicher.
Balch, according to the filings, has donated a total of $4,100 to the group since Jan. 1.
In the Pleasanton Unified School District Area 5 race to replace outgoing trustee Justin Brown, none of the three candidates appears to have raised or spent the amount necessary to require filings with the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
Neither Thomas Choi, a Pleasanton parent and lawyer, nor Brett Martinez, a business owner, had reported any contributions as of Friday.
Livermore teacher and local resident Karen Fletcher’s sole contribution was listed as a $2,500 non-monetary donation from the Association for Pleasanton Teachers union for door hangers and postcards.
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