Tiburon Councilmember Thier's fundraising trails for Assembly, but still competitive

Tiburon Councilmember Holli Thier raised the fewest dollars among candidates for the District 12 state Assembly seat in last month’s campaign-finance reporting period — but she enters the final weeks before the June 2 primary with enough cash in reserve to remain competitive, preelection disclosures show.

Thier raised $26,174 from Jan. 1 to April 18, trailing Marin Supervisor Eric Lucan of Novato, who during the same period raised $170,437 — the most in the six-candidate field vying for the seat, which covers all of Marin and parts of Sonoma County, including Petaluma and Rohnert Park.

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countdown to election day

Vote-by-mail ballots were mailed to all active registered Marin voters starting May 4. Completed ballots must be postmarked by June 2 and received within seven days.

Return options: Mail your ballot using the prepaid return envelope, place it in an official drop box or vote in person at a vote center.

Drop boxes: Available through June 2 at 18 county locations. Those closest to the Tiburon Peninsula:

• Belvedere City Hall, 450 San Rafael Ave.

• Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto.

Vote centers: The nearest vote center for peninsula residents opens May 30 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 240 Tiburon Blvd. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through June 1 and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, June 2. Language services available in English and Spanish.

Register or check your registration: registertovote.ca.gov.

Track your ballot: wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov.

More information: Call 415-473-6456 or visit marinvotes.org.

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For more primary election coverage, visit thearknewspaper.com/election2026

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Rohnert Park Councilmember Jackie Elward raised $102,693 in the same period, ranking second among the five who filed disclosures. Corte Madera Councilmember Eli Beckman raised $97,848 and nonprofit executive Steve Schwartz of Sebastopol raised $36,515 in outside contributions; Schwartz also loaned his campaign $9,000, $4,000 of which he repaid during the period.

Eryn M. Cervantes, a correctional officer at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, did not submit a campaign-finance report, according to the Secretary of State’s Cal-Access portal; Power Search, the Secretary of State’s public-access campaign-finance database, shows no contributions to her campaign during the 2025-2026 election cycle.

When combined with contributions made in 2025, the 2026 disclosures paint a fuller picture of the money race heading into June 2. According to Power Search, Thier has received $285,927 as of April 30, ranking third in the field — ahead of Elward with $254,098 and Schwartz with $108,142 but behind Lucan’s field-leading $403,742 and Beckman’s $381,149. And her campaign balance of $247,642 is only slightly behind Beckman’s $287,517 and Lucan’s $261,735, compared with Elward’s balance of $166,819 and Schwartz’s $25,396.

Thier’s disclosure of $26,174 in contributions is against $40,816 in total expenditures during the period, with about $4,010 in unpaid bills.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission requires two preelection campaign-finance disclosures. The first, due April 23, covers Jan. 1-April 18. The second is due May 21, covering April 19-May 16.

The disclosure is required of candidates who receive or spend more than $2,000; candidates who believe they won’t reach that threshold may file a different declaration form.

Thier’s cash on hand is a reflection of the larger donations she received before 2026. Her campaign balance of $247,642 is only slightly behind Beckman’s $287,517 and Lucan’s $261,735, compared with Elward’s balance of $166,819 and Schwartz’s $25,396.

Donors can contribute a maximum of $5,900 to an Assembly candidate per election, or $11,800 per election cycle.

Local donors to campaigns

Tiburon Peninsula-affiliated donors have contributed a combined $117,099 to Assembly candidates — 8.17% of the $1.43 million raised by all five filers through April 30. About 28% of Thier’s total contributions are from residents in the 94920 ZIP code, compared with 7.62% of Beckman’s total and 1.72% of Lucan’s. No one from Tiburon or Belvedere contributed disclosed donations to Elward’s or Schwartz’s campaigns.

In her first preelection disclosure, Thier reported receiving $2,500 from Sonoma resident David Grieve, chairman of Main Street landlord A&C Ventures, which also donated $2,500 to her campaign; $1,000 from her mother, Marlene Thier of Moraga; $250 from Servino Trattoria owner Kathryn Servino; and $100 each from Belvedere Councilmember Pat Carapiet and Heritage & Arts Commissioner Victoria Fong.

In 2025, Thier received a campaign-maximum $11,800 from Marin Municipal Water District board member Larry Russell of Tiburon; $11,550 from Tiburon resident Carol Korenbrot; $5,900 each from former Parks, Open Space and Trails Commissioner Angela McInerney and local landlord Zelinsky Properties; $5,000 from Tiburon Peninsula resident Ofer Alon; $4,000 in nonmonetary contributions — such as meals or event space — from Salt & Pepper restaurant; and $1,000 from Belvedere Councilmember Jane Cooper.

She also received $750 in nonmonetary contributions from former Diversity Inclusion Task Force member Anette Harris; $500 from Belvedere-Tiburon Emergency Preparedness Council member Ruben Kalra; $350 each from Diversity Inclusion Task Force members Tina Shah Paikeday and Lina Godfrey; $250 each from Reed Union School District trustee Mike Ghaffary, Marin Commission on Aging member Jane Gould of Tiburon, Caviar Co. owner Petra Higby and restaurateur Crystal Azzarello of Luna Blu and Tiburon Tavern; $150 from Chabad of Tiburon Rabbi Levi Mintz; $100 each from Tiburon Mayor Jon Welner, Heritage & Arts Commissioner Azita de Mujica and Belvedere-Tiburon Library Agency trustee Ken Weil; and $99 from Tiburon Planning Commissioner Daniel Amir.

Beckman, the Corte Madera councilmember, received the Assembly race’s maximum election contribution of $5,900 from Russell, the water-district board member, and $4,200 from Tiburon resident Brenda Bottum during the first reporting period.

Earlier finance reports show that Beckman also received $6,100 from Tiburon Peninsula resident Pamela Sieck, $3,500 from Marin Commission on Aging member Larry Binkley of Belvedere, $250 from commission member Jane Gould of Tiburon, $155 from library trustee Ken Weil and $100 from fellow library trustee and former Tiburon Mayor Jeff Slavitz.

Lucan received $450 from Tiburon Councilmember Alice Fredericks and $100 from former Belvedere Mayor Sandy Donnell in the first reporting period. Including 2025 contributions, Fredericks has given Lucan’s campaign $750; Donnell has given $700.

In 2025, Lucan also received $2,000 from Tiburon resident Conor Flaherty, $1,000 of which came through Flaherty’s downtown Tiburon restaurant Sam’s Anchor Cafe; $1,000 from Tiburon real-estate agent Steven Mavromihalis; $500 from Belvedere Vice Mayor Kevin Burke; $250 from Sanitary District No. 5 of Marin County board member Richard Snyder; $100 from former Belvedere Mayor James Campbell; and $50 from former Belvedere Mayor Claire McAuliffe.

Donations in the governor’s race

In the race for governor, Tiburon Peninsula residents contributed $91,428 to five candidates during the Jan. 1-April 18 period, according to campaign-contribution data from Power Search.

The contribution maximum for the governor’s race is $39,200 per election, or $78,400 per election cycle.

Peninsula residents contributed $79,750 to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s campaign; Mahan, a Democrat, raised $13.46 million from Jan. 1 to April 18. Nearly all of that local total — $78,400, the maximum allowed per election cycle — came from Daniel Brandon Kan, the CEO of Fifth Door, an artificial-intelligence startup that lets users build video games through “vibe-coding,” or conversational prompts.

Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, a Democrat, raised $2.81 million during the same period but received only $250 from one Tiburon Peninsula donor.

Xavier Becerra, a Democrat who served as California attorney general and U.S. secretary of health and human services, raised $975,782 from Jan. 1 to April 18, including $4,100 from 94920 residents. Of that amount, $3,500 came from David McCarthy, a numismatist at Kagin’s Inc.

Steve Hilton — a former Fox News host and adviser to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron consultant as a Republican — raised $4.14 million, with $3,548 from peninsula residents, including $1,729 from Julie Croker.

Former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, raised $5.56 million during the same period. Peninsula residents contributed $3,780 to his campaign, including $1,150 from John Wall and $1,000 each from David Joyner and Lynn Olson.

All local donations to the Swalwell campaign were made before April 10 reports by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN in which former staffers accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct. Swalwell, who denied the allegations, suspended his gubernatorial campaign April 12 and resigned from Congress two days later.

Billionaire Tom Steyer — a Democrat who raised $105.05 million, $104.95 million of it self-funded — and Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who raised $1.55 million, received no donations from Tiburon or Belvedere residents, according to Power Search.

Reach Tiburon reporter Francisco Martinez at 415-944-4634.