Watanabe, a former councilmember, said Larson and McWalter donated $1,000 through Zeffy, an online fundraising platform, back when she decided to run for mayor. She said the campaign issued one refund check to the couple, then sent Larson a second $20 check after realizing the initial refund was $20 short. Watanabe said the campaign shut down its Zeffy account after discovering the issue and later filed an amendment to correct errors in its campaign finance reports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe full refund was made in one check (of $200) as Paul and Michael are married. There was a shortage of $20 as I did math wrong in my head,\u201d Watanabe told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI subsequently sent another check for $20 to just Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said this is the first time her treasurer has filed disclosure forms, and once Watanabe saw the error the campaign filed an amended form.<\/p>\n
Watanabe said she is willing to speak with the city attorney about the complaint and is not trying to skirt campaign finance rules.<\/p>\n
The City Council had previously set individual campaign contributions at $760 for candidates who agreed to accept the voluntary expenditure limit<\/a>. For those who did not, the limit is $380 for candidates. In his complaint, Jain said he noticed Watanabe had not accepted the limits.<\/p>\n The council set the voluntary expenditure limits at $55,890 for citywide contests and $29,590 for district-based contests.<\/p>\n Jain\u2019s complaint asks City Attorney Glen Googins to investigate whether Watanabe\u2019s campaign violated the city\u2019s campaign finance rules and if there are other irregularities in the filings.<\/p>\n Googins was not available for comment.<\/p>\n Jain said he began reviewing Watanabe\u2019s campaign finances while looking through the disclosures for candidates running for mayor and city council.<\/p>\n The complaint comes as Watanabe faces off against other candidates<\/a> in the Nov. 3 mayoral election. Watanabe previously served on the city council and was among the councilmembers who voted in 2024 to establish the city\u2019s voluntary campaign expenditure and contribution limits<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jain alleges there are others error regarding cash payments and expenditures in Watanabe\u2019s forms, and said she and her treasurer are liable for that information.<\/p>\n \u201cFor somebody who wants to be mayor and for somebody who talks about ethics all the time, for somebody who\u2019s run for office many times, it\u2019s just shocking to me how careless she has been in filling out these financial forms,\u201d Jain told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791334929_476_interactive-321838904008.png\")
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