Election day is just four days away, and campaigns are mobilizing to get out the vote – and seeing last-minute cash injections. Two new PACs have put $435,000 behind Supervisor Connie Chan, while even more money pours into the fight over Prop. D.
Elsewhere, Mission Local surveys our readers about what they want from their next congressperson.
Read yesterday’s election extra here.
Two big-spending PACs put in last-minute money for Chan
Two mysterious PACs have started spending big for Chan. Pro-Choice Majority Action and Rising Tide Collective put in $325,000 and $110,000, respectively, for digital ads and text messages to voters late last week.
Who is funding these groups and why they chose to get involved at this late date is unclear — both PACs only started spending in the past two weeks, so they have yet to file any disclosures saying where their funding is coming from.
But, Pro-Choice Majority Action seems to be affiliated with other Democratic PACs and both use the same treasurer, Blue Wave Politics, a left-wing political consulting firm.
The big spending came days after Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi endorsed Chan for Congress. And though the funding is coming in at the last minute, Chan is neck and neck with Saikat Chakrabarti for the No. 2 slot, and every vote counts.
Chan has lagged behind her opponents financially — while State Sen. Scott Wiener has raised $3.9 million and former tech executive Chakrabarti has put $9.9 million of his own money into his campaign, she has raised only $651,000. She has gotten a boost, though, from Working Families for San Francisco, a labor-funded PAC that has put about $350,000 behind Chan since mid-April.
Read more about campaign finance in this piece here.
— Io Yeh Gilman
Garry Tan fights business tax with new group
Garry’s List, the dark money political group founded by Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, gave $76,000 to the campaign opposing the “Overpaid CEO tax” in the last two days. While the group has launched a blog and voter guide endorsing moderate candidates around the Bay Area and Los Angeles, it’s the first contribution the group has made to any San Francisco campaign.
If passed, the measure would increase taxes for companies whose CEO makes more than 100 times what the median worker earns.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Foundation, a longstanding Bay Area charity, gave $50,000 in support of the “Overpaid CEO tax” on Wednesday.
Looking to learn more about the measure (and the competing one)? Look no further than our coverage of what it is, how it would impact the economy and the businesses opposing the measure.
– Kelly Waldron
What do voters actually want from their next congressperson?
For the first time in almost 40 years, San Franciscans will be sending a new congressperson to Capitol Hill, and they are ready for some change.
Fifty-three percent of some 900 readers surveyed by Mission Local want their new representative to bring a fresh approach, while 19 percent want Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s approach to continue.
Mission Local also asked readers what their top issues are, whether they want their congressperson focused more on national issues or local issues, and more.
To see what they answered, read “Mission Local survey respondents to next member of Congress: ‘Don’t hide out in Washington’”
— Io Yeh Gilman