Theo Ellington is not hurting for cash.
In early September, cryptocurrency billionaire Chris Larsen dropped $500,000 into a newly-created pro-Ellington PAC, likely the largest single gift in a supervisor race ever. On Sept. 29, he put in another $40,000.
Even without that PAC money, which Ellington does not control, the District 10 candidate’s war chest was considerable: $488,000 from his candidate committee and public financing funds, compared to nonprofit director DJ Brookter ($145,000) and lawyer J.R. Eppler ($159,000), his chief rivals.
But on Sunday, Sept. 28, Ellington’s 38th birthday-slash-campaign-event felt like any good block party in Bayview-Hunters Point.
There was Southern comfort food catered from local Bayview businesses, friendly banter, the 49ers game projected on the wall and a folding table for a game of dominos, which Ellington said he ran a serious risk of losing.
“He’s a self-proclaimed dominologist,” said the candidate and third-generation San Franciscan, pointing toward his cousin, the one he credits for teaching him everything he knows about the game.
“This is my community. This is where I grew up, so playing dominoes is familial. It just brings me back to growing up here in the neighborhood,” Ellington said. “So that’s what I wanted today to feel like. That’s what I want my birthday to feel like.”
Anyone strolling the Third Street corridor couldn’t miss the feels outside Ellington’s campaign office, on the corner of Third and Thornton Avenue: The smell of barbecue, R&B classics echoing down the block, volunteers holding blue and orange campaign posters, air blowing into a bouncy house, and, at one point, Ellington eating steak hot off the grill.
Inside, the campaign office teemed with dozens of supporters, community members and rambunctious children.
Ellington stood inside, greeting newcomers.
“Here’s what I need you to do,” he told an attendee, walking them over to a wall lined with white sheets of paper the size of concert posters. “You got a big idea? We want to hear it,” he said.
“Big ideas for D10,” was just one of the posters. Another read “Illegal Dumping in D10” — an ongoing issue in Bayview. In 2025, Mission Local found that the neighborhood’s high number of “unaccepted streets” meant that the Department of Public Works often refused — or severely delayed — clearing trash from those areas, leaving many residents feeling neglected by the city.
At this gathering, people told Ellington that they continue to feel neglected.
A man in a grey knit sweater approached Ellington to give him a folded piece of paper with the phrase “clean streets, safe city” printed inside.
“Illegal dumping and trash was the basics for me,” Ellington told the man, slipping the paper into the pocket of his army-green pants. “Keeping the streets clean, the rest will follow.”
“How you been?” another attendee asked Ellington. “Living the dream,” he responded.
For Ellington, that “dream” has been a long time coming. Before he stepped into his current role as the executive director of the Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House and as policy director at the firm Brownstein, Ellington served on a city commission and worked for the Golden State Warriors and the Salvation Army.
He is also a registered city lobbyist and has worked for companies like RealPage, a software company that has been accused of helping landlords across the country collude and keep rental prices artificially high. At a recent District 10 forum, Ellington said that he did not necessarily agree with the clients he had worked for, RealPage included.
From an early age, Ellington says he had a deep concern for his community — the only place he’s ever called home. In 2018, he ran for District 10 supervisor, but lost to incumbent Supervisor Shamann Walton.
In October 2025, with Walton terming out, Ellington announced he was at it again. Since then, he’s received endorsements from the San Francisco Democratic Party, Mayor Daniel Lurie, former mayors London Breed and Willie Brown, and many others.
With his 4-year-old son wrapped around his arm, Ellington moved around the room asking how people envision District 10. He didn’t end any conversation until he was sure he’d learned their name.
What surprises him, he told two locals, is how disconnected Bayview residents are from each other. “We have at least 50 house parties in the neighborhood,” he says. “Ten people here, 20 people there, and they don’t talk to each other.” The people all have the same issues, he says: “Third Street, street lights, housing, garbage. But those folks aren’t connected.”
“That’s the most inspiring part,” he continued. “There are people who want to be engaged, people who want to make a difference and so part of my job is to bring those folks together.”
“How do you make them understand that it’s important to come out and get connected?” asked one woman. She says Bayview residents believe that nothing can change, because no one has shown them that it’s possible.
“So it’s gonna be on you,” she said, looking at Ellington. “And us,” chirped a man standing beside her
“I want to go to City Hall with people. We got a problem with MTA [Municipal Transportation Agency],” Ellington said to her. Someone else in the room shouts “MTA” back at him. “Let’s go!” Ellington responds. “We’re all going to MTA together!”
More visitors stopped by the office, bearing gifts.
A man in a grey fitted suit handed Ellington a pie and a copy of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. Another gave him a red envelope. “Thank you,” Ellingto saidn, graciously.
“People are ready for something different, so I feel like this is my calling,” he said, as the birthday drew to a close. “I’ve always positioned my career off the way I think communities can be changed.”
