The largest political donation in a San Francisco supervisor’s race happened between a donor and a candidate who have only met in passing.
District 10 supervisor candidate Theo Ellington said he’s only had a “couple of brief conversations” — and no formal meeting — with billionaire Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, who gave $500,000 on Sept. 3 to a political action committee backing Ellington.
The donation became the starkest example of the attention Ellington has garnered from the city’s tech political machine in his race to represent one of the city’s southernmost industrial and working-class districts — one increasingly important to tech.
In a Wednesday sit-down interview at Ripple’s headquarters, Larsen, a major donor to police surveillance technology in the city, said he was “impressed” by Ellington’s “pragmatism.” He described the candidate as “cut from the same cloth” as Mayor Daniel Lurie, whose initiatives Larsen has backed with millions of dollars, including by giving to ballot initiatives to strengthen the mayor’s hand.
Larsen said he expected Ellington, the executive director of the Bayview Opera house who has been one of three front-running candidates from the outset, to “work with the mayor and not try to sabotage” him.
When asked what he would stand to gain from the donation, Larsen shook his head. “What do I need?” he asked. “I could be anywhere.”
Ellington hasn’t exactly welcomed the association.
The candidate insisted that he had not asked for Larsen’s donation and would not be influenced by it. “Outside organizations make their own decisions about how they participate in elections,” said Ellington. The donation was given to a PAC, which is not controlled by Ellington and cannot coordinate with him. “They do not speak for me or our campaign.”
Ellington added that he will “work with anyone who has a good idea for neighborhoods that have been overlooked for far too long.”
In the days following Larsen’s gift, Ellington said that if elected, he would support a moratorium on AI data centers in District 10, an issue that residents have raised deep concerns about.
At Ripple on Wednesday, Larsen said Ellington’s stance made sense. “The AI industry has done a spectacularly terrible job at preserving their image,” said Larsen. “I’ve never seen a brand be so unpopular.”
The moratorium, and Ellington’s “pragmatic, balanced,” approach, he said, would overall, be a “good thing” for the industry.
Larsen said that the magnitude of his donation stemmed from what he saw as a lack of investment into Ellington’s campaign from other allies.
“Was this another example of Bayview being ignored?” Larsen asked, describing the neighborhood’s turnaround as “key” to the success of San Francisco’s image. He compared it to the Tenderloin, another neighborhood often ignored by the city and one which Larsen has tried to steer downtown revitalization efforts toward.
There’s no doubt that District 10’s southeastern neighborhoods have been overlooked, from the toxic contamination of the former Hunters Point Naval shipyard to racial inequities and the poor upkeep of its public housing.
But the district has been changing dramatically. If the size of the donation baffled many, it made perfect sense to Larsen and some political consultants.
Tech entrepreneurs are diving into District 10. The world’s largest industrial landlord, Prologis, is building a logistics hub in Bayview. The nearby Dogpatch neighborhood, which falls within the district, has emerged as a critical artery for tech offices like Y Combinator, whose graduate founders have set up companies across the street.
Larsen’s gift wasn’t the first from the tech sector. The industry’s growing interest in the neighborhood has resulted in thousands of dollars from tech executives poured directly into Ellington’s campaign already.
Garry Tan, a moderate political donor and the CEO of Y Combinator, Dogpatch’s most recent tech firm, donated the maximum of $500 to Ellington’s campaign. Other former and current tech executives now involved in a growing faction of moderate political donors, including Sachin Agarwal, also made $500 contributions to Ellington.
Tan and Gov. Gavin Newsom pointed to the importance of tech executives getting involved in small, local elections during a June fireside chat hosted by Y Combinator. Ellington and Larsen were both in attendance.
“Theo Ellington is a third-generation San Francisco native who understands our city needs leaders who can bring people together, focus on results and make City Hall work better for the neighborhoods,” said Tan in a statement through a spokesperson. “Theo has the experience, energy and commitment to deliver on these objectives for S.F.”
Todd David, the leader of the moderate, tech-adjacent civic advocacy group Abundant SF, added: “It makes sense that if you are a tech person, you are interested in supporting a candidate who maybe doesn’t agree with you, but at least will come to the table with an open mind and have an actual conversation as opposed to someone whose mind is made up on this. Theo comes across as incredibly open minded.”
Yes, $500,000 is a big chunk of change. But consultants say it’s not impossible to spend just two months before the election — especially if you want to pick up movable, undecided voters.
“I’d probably put most of it into a paid, targeted ground game to pick up where volunteers leave off and knock on every door a couple of times, complemented by a mix of targeted digital and text,” said Sacramento-based political consultant Steve Maviglio.
Ellington defended the donations from tech as only part of his broad-based campaign. “Look at the coalition supporting this campaign: working people and unions, neighborhood residents … Democrats, and people with very different perspectives on San Francisco politics. They don’t agree on everything,” he said. “Neither do I.”
Yet Ellington’s opponents are wary of the ostensible corporate influence. “It’s just unheard of,” said Natalie Gee, an aide to sitting District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton who is supporting Ellington’s opponent, Dion-Jay “DJ” Brookter. “With money like that there’s always an expectation of what’s in return.”
Shawn Richard — a District 10 candidate and longtime Bayview resident who founded the nonprofit Brothers Against Guns after losing two brothers to gun violence — called for Ellington to donate the money, namely to Black churches or nonprofits that could benefit from the colossal sum.
“I see a problem with a large amount of money going to a local election in a district that needs it,” said Richard. “There are families that can barely keep food on the table.”
