Millions of dollars are flowing into San Francisco’s two June supervisor contests, and a substantial sum is coming from deep-pocketed political action committees.
There are no fewer than eight PACs involved in the District 2 and District 4 races, and they’ve contributed a total of $2.1 million towards their preferred candidates, according to finance filings released Thursday evening.
The third-party spending is eclipsing money directly raised from donors giving up to $500. In District 4, the PAC money is nearly four times as much as funds raised by candidates.
Most of that PAC money is backing Alan Wong and Stephen Sherrill, the two incumbent supervisors who are facing challengers on June 2.
In District 2, the PAC money backing Sherrill is coming from Mayor Daniel Lurie’s allies, political pressure group GrowSF, and an anti-worker PAC, among others. The PAC spending is more than what Sherrill has fundraised directly: He has raised $443,102 from donors, and the PACs are spending $663,000.
Those groups are:
- SF Believes, a PAC that was created by Mayor Lurie’s allies, which has spent $201,000 to support Sherrill.
- GrowSF, a group closely aligned with Lurie, has raised $267,000 in a PAC to back Sherrill. Its PAC for Sherrill, along with its voter guide, has spent over $203,500 so far.
- Another PAC named Committee to Support Supervisor Stephen Sherrill spent $76,000 to support Sherrill. Its top donor is Diana L. Nelson, director of an investment firm, who gave $15,000.
- A labor PAC, Working Families for Stephen Sherrill for Supervisor 2026, also recently jumped into the District 2 race, spending $18,465 for Sherrill. The PAC, with $50,000 in its bank account, was funded by the North Coast States Regional Council of Carpenters Power PAC, Operating Engineers 3 Statewide PAC and San Francisco Laborer’s Local 261 PAC.
- Meanwhile, a PAC active in lobbying against worker-protection state bills that has fought minimum wages for fast-food workers has also thrown its support behind Sherrill. The California Alliance of Family-Owned Businesses PAC spent $52,000 for him.
Lori Brooke, Sherrill’s opponent, is far behind in the money race: She has raised about $185,000 from donors, and is not benefiting from any PAC support. Both Sherrill and Brooke are aided by the city’s public financing program, getting $252,000 and $247,000 respectively.
The totals for Sherrill and Brooke include money raised for both June and November elections — both candidates can spend money today to get their name out, even if it is allocated for the November race.
Sherrill is focusing on fundraising for November already. In the past month, only $300 of the money he raised went to the June race. But he has amassed $196,000 from donors for the general election, with $163,000 cash on hand. Brooke, in comparison, raised just about $4,000 for November.
Some of the same groups are involved in District 4. Wong, who was appointed by Mayor Lurie in late November, has about $1.3 million behind him, and about 72 percent of that came from PACs.
Those PACs are:
- SF Believes, the Lurie allies PAC, has spent $381,000 for Wong and another $133,000 against his opponent Natalie Gee.
- GrowSF Supporting Alan Wong For Supervisor, a PAC from the political pressure group, has raised $319,000 to back Wong. It has spent about $243,000 for Wong — and at least part of that is for a 10-feet-tall billboard on Irving Street, with Wong and Lurie side by side. The PAC also spent another $11,600 to oppose Gee and Albert Chow, Wong’s opponents.
- California Alliance of Family-Owned Businesses PAC, part of the statewide group that lobbied against worker-rights bills, is also supporting Wong and has spent $66,000 to back him.
- Affordable SF Now Supporting Natalie Gee for Supervisor 2026, a PAC funded by labor unions, raised some $385,000 to back Gee. Most of the PAC’s funding came from IFPTE Local 21, where Gee is an active union member. The union has also contributed staff time to boost the ground game for Gee. Other unions, including SEIU 1021, SF Labor Council and the National Union of Healthcare Workers also contributed to the PAC.
- A PAC named Asian Americans for Representation spent $166,000 supporting David Lee, a former educator at Laney College and San Francisco State University. The PAC backed Lee previously in his 2024 run for State Assembly against Catherine Stefani. It usually supports Asian American candidates: In 2024, it supported Connie Chan, Chyanne Chen and Sharon Lai for their supervisor races.
Take out the PAC money, however, and Wong and Gee are virtually tied: Wong has raised about $142,300 and Gee about $141,000.
Wong’s donations have come from police officers, firefighters and electrical workers unions, real estate developers and politicos like Mary Jung and Board President Rafael Mandelman, among others.
Albert Chow, the owner of Great Wall Hardware and recall organizer, has raised $57,000 for the June election.
Most of his donors seem to be everyday people, including a bus driver, a Whole Foods worker and a cosmetologist. Lisa Arjes, a District 4 resident who helped fund the Joel Engardio recall, gave $250, and Aaron Peskin, the former boss of Chow’s campaign staffers, donated $500.
Chow did not receive backing from any PACs.
Lee, the former educator raised about $40,000; most of his donations in the past month came from those with Chinese descent.
Jeremy Greco, a school administrator and Sunset Dunes park supporter, raised some $4,000.
Chow, Lee and Greco also received a $100 donation from their opponent Gee. The four candidates banded together in a press conference at Ortega branch library in late April to call out the outside spending from “big money” groups to Wong.
There, Gee vowed that she would support anyone but Wong. She said she’d “ put my money where my mouth is,” and donate to all the other candidates.
