Saikat Chakrabarti, a top contender in the race to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi for California’s 11th congressional district, has more money fueling his campaign than every other candidate combined — most of it from his own wallet.
Chakrabarti’s campaign raised $5.2 million, which includes $4.8 million he’s pitched in himself, according to federal filings released on Wednesday. They show money raised by campaigns as of the end of March.
Already, however, Chakrabarti has burned through all but $209,000, spending close to $5 million — $3.3 million of that in the first quarter of 2026 alone. Chakrabarti, who became a centimillionaire after working for Stripe, can contribute more money to his campaign at any time.
The bulk of his spending so far this year has gone towards ads, including TV spots that have become ubiquitous in San Francisco homes. The relatively unknown candidate is seeking to quickly increase name recognition against his rivals, long-serving elected officials.
Scott Wiener, the state senator and presumptive front-runner, has raised $3.5 million to fund his campaign.
Unlike Chakrabarti, Wiener’s cash comes almost entirely from direct fundraising: 98 percent of the contributions to his campaign came from individual donors, the rest from political action committees.
Connie Chan, the District 1 supervisor, trails far behind her opponents with $459,000. Around 90 percent of that is from direct fundraising, the rest from PACs. She started fundraising in November 2025.
Both Wiener and Chan, though trailing Chakrabarti in total funds because of his self-financing, have raised more money from donors.
Marie Hurabiell, a former Trump appointee turned Democrat, only entered the race in February. She has amassed some $420,000, with $100,000 of that coming from her own funds.
Wednesday’s filings give voters a detailed look into each candidate’s finances, and by extension the health of the campaigns. Candidates will face off in a June 2 primary, where only the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance to the November election.
Who has the most donors?
Although only about $360,000 of Chakrabarti’s fundraising has come from individual donors, Chakrabarti’s campaign touted an eye-popping 13,000 of them, according to communications director Tiffaney Bradley, an indication of small-dollar giving.
“You can see the grassroots support behind us in our numbers … with an average donation of $27 and strong support across San Francisco and the state,” she said.
Chakrabarti’s campaign sent out an email blast on March 30, a day before the Federal Election Commission’s filing deadline, to ask for small donations. It’s unclear how many came in after that email.
“Reporters and pundits pay close attention to these end-of-quarter filings to determine whether a campaign is serious about going the distance — so we’re asking people to chip in $1 and demonstrate just how many supporters are ready to back Saikat,” Emily Hyden, Charkarbarti’s campaign manager, wrote in the email.
Wiener has also amassed a large donor base, but it is a fraction of Chakrabarti’s.
According to his campaign, 3,371 donors contributed to support Wiener’s run for Congress, and three quarters of those who gave this year were first-time donors to the campaign. Wiener’s $3.5 million is also the result of almost three years of fundraising, which began as early as June 2023.
Wiener has relied on larger contributions from fewer donors. Between 2023 and 2025, his campaign received over 800 contributions of more than $3,000.
Chan said over 2,000 individual donors contributed to her campaign.
“Connie Chan is a longtime public servant, she is not bankrolled by billionaires, she is not a tech millionaire,” said Julie Edwards, the spokesperson for Chan’s campaign. “This is why she has the support of working people like teachers, nurses, firefighters, hotel workers, seniors, tenants and students — over 2,000 individual donors — who will continue to power this campaign to victory on June 2.”
Marie Hurabiell, who was last to join the race seven weeks ago, has about $420,000 in the bank. While Hurabiell touted this figure on social media, a quarter of that came from her own funds, and not direct fundraising.
Hurabiell said her campaign will start airing TV ads in two weeks.
Committees run by candidates are subject to contribution limits, unlike independent expenditure committees, or PACs. Individuals can only give up to $3,500 to a federal candidate per election — the candidate themselves, however, can give as much as they like, as Chakrabarti has. The June primary and November election are counted as separate elections.
An independent expenditure for Chan, the “Working Families for San Francisco PAC,” was created on March 26 and will be funded mostly by local labor unions, according to political consultant David Ho, who is running it. It has not yet reported any contributions or any expenditures in the race.
Meanwhile, an anti-Chakrabarti PAC backed by major tech donors and a criminal justice advocacy group has already paid for over $200,000 worth of mailers and advertisements attacking the candidate.
Where are the candidates spending?
Over $2 million of Chakrabarti’s $3.3 million in spending during the first quarter of this year went to advertising in January, February and March, including several hundred-thousand dollar television ad buys.
Chakrabarti has also spent heavily on staff. While other campaigns rely on an army of volunteers to canvas, Chakrabarti’s campaign is paying over 250 canvassers up to $45 an hour.
Wiener, Chan and Hurabiell all ended the quarter with more cash on hand. Wiener, who ended the month of March with $2.6 million in reserves, has three quarters of the total amount he has fundraised left to spend.
Which third-party PACs are spending on the race?
So far, only one PAC has spent on the race: Abundant Future. It has shelled out over $200,000 to oppose Chakarbarti, including printing mailers spoofing a travel postcard that said “Saikat Chakrabarti sends greetings from Maryland.”
When the PAC was opened in 2025, it received donations from wealthy tech figures who have spent heavily against progressives in San Francisco, like Chris Larsen, Garry Tan, Jeremy Liew, and Jeremy Stoppelman. All four are backing Wiener for Pelosi’s seat.
From January to March of 2026, the top donor to Abundant Future was Smart Justice California, a criminal justice reform organization, which put in $250,000. The group is focused on justice reform in the California legislature and has donated to Wiener before. Its main funders include Patty Quillin, the wife of Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, and Elizabeth Simons, the daughter of hedge fund manager James Simons.
That PAC ended March with over $200,000 in cash on hand, so more spending may be on the way.
Has anyone outside of the political class heard as much as a murmur from the Chan campaign, other than to accuse Chakarbati of singlehandedly defeating Dean Preston?
Is the point of the Chan campaign to wet the beaks of the political consultant class? The Chan campaign certainly is not rising to the moment of crisis we face at the federal level above and beyond Trump.
“Do you want Scott Wiener for the next 30 years?” won’t work when Chan comes across as an empty vessel.
Out of morbid curiousity, how many individual donors does Marie Hurabiell have?
I hate this election so much. All 3 are terrible.
Ms. Pelosi’s not even gone yet but I really miss her.
Hello Mission Local your coverage of the election is redundant, you have published many articles (in a very short period of time) only about the same subject: the money Chakrabarti is spending on his campaign. Yes Saikat has money and he is spending it the right way. While Wiener and Chan were politely waiting for Pelosi to decide if she was going to run again after 39 years in congress, Saikat is the one who made it possible for San Francisco residents to elect a new congressman. He pushed Pelosi out of the race. He doesn’t spend his time asking money from corporate overlords, he knocks on people’s doors. He is running to replace inept Democratic Party leadership, to end the wars in the Middle East, to stop the genocide in Palestine and to end the impunity of ICE. Scott Wiener is a closeted zionist and Connie Chan is incompetent for the job, her campaign sounds like she’s not running for congress but for president of the SF board of supes…