Gallaher family lining up behind Sonoma County supervisor candidate Todd Lands, campaign finance records show

Rising above the northbound lanes of Highway 101 in Rohnert Park is a billboard promoting Todd Lands for Sonoma County supervisor.

It reads: "Less Talk. More Action."

Lands is one of three candidates vying to represent the county's 4th District, which begins some 9 miles to the north in Santa Rosa and stretches to the border with Mendocino County.

First elected to the Cloverdale City Council in 2000 and the current vice mayor, Lands is up against two candidates with lengthy experience in municipal office: Tom Schwedhelm, a former Santa Rosa mayor and retired police chief, and Melanie Bagby, a former Cloverdale mayor and two-term council member.

But it is his name in capital letters that thousands of drivers have been seeing for weeks along Highway 101. Such name recognition could be key in the contest to succeed Supervisor James Gore, one of two incumbents who opted not to seek re-election to the five-member board. It's the first time with two open seats in 16 years.

"The direction of the board is at stake," said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University.

The Rohnert Park billboard is tied to an independent expenditure committee set up in April to support Todd Lands. It's only listed donor in campaign finance reports is Molly Flater, daughter of prominent Sonoma County developer Bill Gallaher. She is chief operating officer of the family's Windsor-based Gallaher Cos.

Campaign finance records show Flater has contributed $150,000 to the Action Committee for Todd Lands for Supervisor 2026. As of Thursday, May 14, the committee had spent $69,769, records show.

It marks the most significant spending by an independent expenditure committee in the race so far.

The only other outside spending is from the Sonoma County Democratic Party, which reported spending $1,835 on door hangers and mailers supporting Bagby.

But that could change in the final two weeks before Election Day on June 2. Independent expenditure activity will likely heat up if the race heads to a runoff in November, drawing more local interests into the fold, McCuan said.

The majority of dollars in the race have been donated directly to the candidates' campaigns.

Schwedhelm's campaign reported $154,595 in total cash contributions received between July 1, 2025, and May 11, 2026. His campaign also reported $10,844 in nonmonetary contributions. It is the most raised by any candidate running for county office this cycle.

Bagby's campaign reported a collective $85,365 for that same period while Lands' campaign reported a total $87,880, according to amended reports. Neither campaign reported nonmonetary contributions.

Those dollar amounts struck McCuan as low. He said he would expect to see cumulative totals hitting above $500,000 in a competitive race for an open supervisor seat.

"It is an interesting race because while the money is relatively low, it's because people are clearly trying to ration their dollars and get into the top two to catapult forward (to November)," McCuan said.

Typically that means deep-pocketed donors will lay low until the runoff, but the reason to stand up an independent expenditure early is to signal to opponents and their backers about how expensive the fight ahead could get, McCuan said.

"It's a signaling component or a negotiation through dollars," McCuan said.

Flater was out of town and unavailable to comment Thursday and Friday, said Efren Carrillo, CEO of Gallaher Community Housing, the affordable housing nonprofit.

He directed The Press Democrat to a "message from our major donor," listed on the independent expenditure committee's website. The message posted on the website was not attributed to Flater, but a note below named Flater as the committee's top funder.

The message, lauded "the results Todd Lands delivered for Cloverdale" citing gains on homelessness, school class sizes in schools and stewardship of Cloverdale Unified School District's budget during his board tenure there.

"His leadership has consistently focused on fiscal responsibility, public safety, and accountable government, ensuring taxpayer dollars are invested in core community priorities and long-term stability," the message reads. "At a time when Sonoma County faces serious challenges, Todd brings the kind of experienced, results-oriented leadership our communities need."

It is not the first time Flater has sunk money into local elections. In 2020, she spent nearly $2 million to defeat a measure that would have extended the quarter-cent sales tax for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit line.

Her husband, Scott Flater, was also the reported donor in a record $202,574 in independent expenditure spending in the 2016 Santa Rosa City Council election. Scott Flater was listed in campaign documents at the time as a "homemaker." A defamation lawsuit Bill Gallaher filed against The Press Democrat over the newspaper's coverage of that political spending was dismissed by a state appellate court in 2019.

It is also not the first time the same Rohnert Park billboard has been used by a Gallaher affiliate to weigh in on local politics.

In 2024, Gallaher Community Housing was behind an advertisement that called on the Board of Supervisors to lower building fees. It coincided with a coordinated push from local developers to convince local municipalities to lower or even waive building fees, which they contended have been a barrier to adding affordable housing units.

The billboard most often displays advertisements for Poppy Bank, where Bill Gallaher is founder and board chairman.

Bill Gallaher, his wife Cindy Gallaher, and Molly and Scott Flater also each donated the maximum of $3,800 to Lands' campaign, according to the latest records.

Lands, a contractor and former Sonoma County sheriff's deputy who served four years as mayor in Cloverdale, said over text message he could not speak to "what independent groups are doing in this race," referring to the independent expenditure committee operating in his favor.

He did not respond to two subsequent text messages requesting an interview about the direct campaign donations from the Flaters and Gallahers.

Other notable donors to Lands' campaign include Lawrence Amaturo, owner of Amaturo Sonoma Media Group, with eight local radio stations; and Neena Hanchet, executive director of the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce.

As of April 18, Lands' campaign had spent $50,086 and had a $35,488 balance.

While Lands outraised his opponents in 2025, according to records, Schwedhelm has raised the most overall. His campaign has spent $80,068 and has $37,484 in the bank heading into the final weeks of the primary election.

Notable donors include Santa Rosa-based Ghilotti Construction Co.; Sonoma County Sheriff Eddie Engram; Mike Martini, a former Santa Rosa mayor who now often represents wine industry interests at county meetings; Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez; Gore's 2026 state Senate campaign; Comcast Financial Agency Corp.; and the Lytton Rancheria Tribal Government.

More striking for Schwedhelm is the long list of businesses and political action committees that have padded the campaign's coffers.

Among those contributors are committees connected to Sheriff's Office labor groups, which have also endorsed Schwedhelm; the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce; the Sonoma Alliance for Vineyards and the Environment, which lists Martini as a principal officer; and Northcoast Citizens for a Better Economy.

The PAC activity reflects Schwedhelm's Santa Rosa base, built during his time as police chief and later as a council member and mayor, McCuan said. As those groups coalesce through PAC donations, it creates a "double whammy."

Schwedhelm's donor network and Flater's positioning through the independent expenditure committee will be tough obstacles for Bagby, whose campaign reports reflect a more grassroots base.

Barring late contributions reported after April 18, the bulk of contributions made to Bagby's campaign have been made in the hundreds of dollars rather than the thousands. Bagby, who runs an IT consulting firm with her husband, also served previously on the Cloverdale Planning Commission and as a council member represented the city on various regional boards, including SMART.

Her campaign has spent $26,212 and had a cash balance of $23,002 as of April 18.

But more recent, larger donations from labor groups, including the North Bay Labor Council and Service Employees Union Local 1021, could signal more resources ahead, McCuan said.

Other notable donors to Bagby's campaign include Healdsburg City Councilmember Ariel Kelley; husband and wife Anthony Crabb and Barbara Grasseschi; prominent Democratic donors; and Don McEnhill, the longtime Russian Riverkeeper official.

While Lands' backers have deeper pockets and Schwedhelm has a strong political network, the groups showing support for Bagby, historically have outperformed when it comes to supplying manpower for campaign activities like door knocking, McCuan said.

Voting ends in just two weeks, on June 2, Election Day. If a candidate does not win outright with a majority of the votes, the top two vote-getters will head to a runoff election in November.

Mail-in ballots have already been distributed, and the first vote centers in the county will open on May 23. The last day to register to vote is Monday. After that eligible voters can register for a "conditional" ballot at the county's elections office or at local vote centers.

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 6:42 PM.