By Oliver Luby
November 5, 2011
Synopsis: Rather than provide total spending by campaign issue or the overall top donors in the election, the purpose of this project was identification of the top financial backers for each of the different 2011 San Francisco election campaigns. The two tables below list the top three campaign contributors to date for each campaign committee (if more than one donor qualified for a particular financial category, all were listed).
Table 1 includes all groups that have conducted independent spending (sometimes called “soft money” or “third party expenditures”) supporting or opposing candidates or measures. Table 2 includes all the committees primarily formed to support or oppose measures on the 2011 ballot.
Readers may be particularly interested to see which donors repeatedly showed up in the tables, as well as which donors are themselves also independent groups spending directly on election advocacy communications to the voters. Examples:
1. Contributor Warren Hellman donated to both San Franciscans United for Pension and Health Reform (Yes on C, No on D), at $200,000, and Rebuilding San Francisco Schools (Yes on A), at $25,000.
2. The Committee on Jobs was the top donor to the pro-Lee/Gascon/Cunnie SF Alliance for Jobs & Sustainable Growth PAC, at $110,000, as well as to Scott Wiener’s Yes on E campaign, at $15,000. The Committee on Jobs also gave $5,000 to Fix Our Streets (Yes on B).
3. Contributor PG&E donated $50,000 to Coalition for a Safer California, $10,000 to the Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA), $20,000 to SF Forward, and $5,000 to Fix Our Streets (Yes on B). In turn, BOMA spent on communications supporting various candidates but also, like the Committee on Jobs in the example above, donated $50,000 to SF Alliance for Jobs & Sustainable Growth PAC (as well as $10,000 to Yes on E via a different committee). Similarly, SF Forward spent on communications supporting various measures and also donated $50,000 to SF Alliance for Jobs & Sustainable Growth PAC, plus $5,000 to Fix Our Streets.
Notes:
1. Candidate-controlled campaigns were not reviewed for this project. San Francisco’s $500 contribution limit tends to diversify their financial support amongst numerous small contributors.
2. Data current as of November 3, 2011, after 11 pm (based on filings posted online as of November 4, 2011).
3. Tables below do not include pre-2011 donors.
4. Regarding the “Independent Groups” table, the amounts listed were not necessarily entirely spent on the identified Position(s). Listed amounts do not reflect total amount spent on Position(s). Independent spending of less than $1,000 per affected candidate or measure was not included in the Position column.
Sources: San Francisco Ethics Commission & California Secretary of State’s Political Reform Division.
Table 1 — Independent Groups Spending on Candidates and/or Measures
|
Committee Name |
Position |
#1 Donor |
#2 Donor |
#3 Donor |
| City Residents Opposing Ed Lee for Mayor 2011 | Yes on Yee for Mayor; No on Lee for Mayor | American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO ($275,000) | California Nurses Assn. PAC ($50,000) | (1) International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 6 PAC & (2) Sheet Metal Workers’ International Assn. Local No. 104 PAC ($25,000 each) |
| SF Deputy Sheriffs’ Association PAC | Yes on Miyamoto for Sheriff | Union dues of less than $100/member | Peace Officers Research Assn. of California PAC ($5,000) | Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs ($2,500) |
| SF Sheriffs Managers & Supervisors Political Action Committee | Yes on Miyamoto for Sheriff | Unknown (This new committee formed in October did not disclose any contributions on its state-required Form 496; therefore, it (1) received contributions under $100 per donor, (2) is financed by debt, &/or (3) illegally failed to disclose its contributions of $100 or more.) | ||
| California Nurses Assn. Quality Health Care Committee | Yes on Mirkarimi for Sheriff | California Nurses Assn. PAC ($5,000) | Union dues of less than $100/member | Vanir Energy ($2,000) |
| SF Alliance for Jobs & Sustainable Growth PAC | Yes on Lee for Mayor, Gascon for DA, & Cunnie for Sheriff; Yes on B & G | Committee on Jobs Government Reform Fund ($110,000) | (1) SF Forward (SF Chamber of Commerce) & (2) Building Owners & Managers Assn. of SF PAC – Independent Expenditures ($50,000 each) | SEIU United Healthcare Workers West ($41,257) |
| San Franciscans for Safe Streets & Sound Government – a committee for Lee Mayor 2011, Gascon District Attorney 2011 & Cunnie Sheriff 2011 | Yes on Lee for Mayor, Gascon for DA, & Cunnie for Sheriff | San Francisco Coalition for Responsible Growth PAC ($5,000) | n/a | n/a |
| Coalition for a Safer California | Yes on Lee for Mayor & Cunnie for Sheriff; No on Mirkarimi for Sheriff | SF Alliance for Jobs & Sustainable Growth PAC ($64,000) | PG&E ($50,000) | GAWFCO Enterprises, Inc. ($40,000) |
| San Franciscans for Jobs & Good Government, Supporting Ed Lee for Mayor 2011 | Yes on Lee for Mayor | Ron Conway ($151,000) | Sean Parker ($100,000) | Marc Benioff ($75,000) |
| SF Neighbor Alliance for Ed Lee for Mayor 2011 | Yes on Lee for Mayor | Haiyi Hotels Worldwide ($30,000) | Committee for Effective City Management–A Committee in Support of Ed Lee for Mayor 2011 ($15,000) | GMP ($12,500) |
| Committee for Effective City Management–A Committee in Support of Ed Lee for Mayor 2011 | Yes on Lee for Mayor | Wai-Yan Sandy Chow ($20,000) | GMP ($12,500) | Henry Yin ($9,900) |
| Progress for All | Yes on Lee for Mayor | John Talty ($10,000) | (1) Wade Lai, (2) Raymond Li, (3) Kinson Wong, (4) Ringo Wong, (5) Francis So, (6) Thomas Chan, (7) Kwan Cheung, & (8) Steven Kay ($5,000 each) | (1) Robert Chiang, (2) Florence Kong, & (3) David Lem ($3,000 each) |
| Support Drafting Ed Lee for SF Mayor 2011 | Yes on Lee for Mayor | Michael Breyer ($1,565) | (1) Marc Benioff & (2) Ron Conway ($1,000 each) | (1) Paul Dodyk, (2) Mortimer Zuckerman, & (3) David Feinberg ($500 each) |
| SEIU United Healthcare Workers West | Yes on Lee for Mayor | Union dues of less than $100/member | n/a | n/a |
| Alice B. Toklas Lesbian & Gay Democratic Club PAC | Yes on Herrera for Mayor | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $6,647) | Joanna Rees ($5,000) | Mark Leno For Senate ($3,500) |
| San Franciscans for New Priorities & Dennis Herrera for Mayor 2011 | Yes on Herrera for Mayor | (1) Lisa Goldman & (2) Douglas Goldman ($5,000 each) | n/a | n/a |
| Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund | Yes on Dufty for Mayor; No on Herrera for Mayor | (1) McFarlane Group, (2) Sellers Dorsey & Associates, (3) Scientech Engineers Inc., (4) Nixon Wheat, (5) National Education Assn., (6) Monument Bank, (7) Kenneth Mehlman, (8) James Dannenbaum, (9) Delucchi Plus, (10) Curb Records, (11) AT&T, & (12) Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld ($5,000 each) | (1) Widmeyer Communications, (2) Vincent & Elkins, (3) Todd Sears, (4) Ruth Catone Inc., (5) Haynes & Boone, (6) Charles Hamm, (7) CDM, (8) Bolton St. Johns LLC, & (9) Andrews Kurth LLP ($2,500 each) | (1) The Standard, (2) Kasirer Consulting, & (3) Dozoretz Private Foundation ($2,000 each) |
| Cunnie for Sheriff 2011 sponsored by the San Francisco Police Officers Association | Yes on Cunnie for Sheriff; No on Mirkiarimi for Sheriff | SF Police Officers Assn. PAC ($120,200) | (1) Ron Conway & (2) California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. ($25,000 each) | Coalition for a Safer California ($5,000) |
| Golden State Leadership Fund PAC | Yes on Chiu, Lee, & Ting for Mayor; Yes on C; No on D | Unknown (state General Purpose Committees not required to report contributions received after June 30th in odd-numbered years until following January) | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $54,433) | n/a |
| Building Owners & Managers Assn. of SF PAC – Independent Expenditures | Yes on Chiu, Dufty & Lee for Mayor, Gascon & Fazio for DA, & Cunnie & Miyamoto for Sheriff | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $79,160) | (1) PG&E & (2) Shorenstein Co. LLC ($10,000 each) | (1) GLL Terry Francois Blvd., LLC & (2) Grosvenor ($5,000 each) |
| Californians for Trust, Responsibility, Unity & Empowerment PAC | Yes on Chiu for Mayor | Unknown (state General Purpose Committees not required to report contributions received after June 30th in odd-numbered years until following January) | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $229,978) | n/a |
| Unite Here Local 2 PAC | Yes on Chiu & Herrera for Mayor; No on Lee for Mayor | Union dues of less than $100/member | n/a | n/a |
| SEIU Local 1021 Issues PAC | Yes on C, No on D | Union dues of less than $100/member | n/a | n/a |
| Committee for a Safer San Francisco, Supporting Sharmin Bock, Opposing George Gascon for District Attorney 2011 | Yes on Bock for DA; No on Gascon for DA | Ferideh Mehran ($130,000) | (1) Jennifer Rainin & (2) Reza J. Mehran ($10,000 each) | Joseph Tobin II ($7,500) |
| SF Forward Sponsored by SF Chamber of Commerce | Yes on B, E, G, & H | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $40,200) | PG&E ($20,000) | (1) SF Chamber of Commerce & (2) Charles Schwab (individual) ($10,000 each) |
| Webcor Builders | Yes on B | Non-recipient Independent Expenditure Committee (This independent group does not receive contributions & spent its own $5,000) | ||
| Affordable Housing Alliance Political Action Committee | Yes on Avalos, Herrera, & Yee for Mayor | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $14,332) | (1) California Nurses Assn. PAC & (2) Ferideh Mehran ($5,000 each) | (1) SF Fire Fighters PAC & (2) San Franciscans United for Pension & Health Reform ($2,500 each) |
| Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club | Yes on Avalos, Herrera, & Yee for Mayor | SEIU Local 1021 ($6,250) | Recology Inc. ($5,000) | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $4,652) |
| SEIU 1021 Candidate PAC | Yes on Avalos, Dufty, & Yee for Mayor | Union dues of less than $100/member | n/a | n/a |
| SEIU Local 1021 Independent Expenditure PAC | Yes on Avalos, Dufty, & Yee for Mayor | Union dues of less than $100/member | n/a | n/a |
| California Nurses Assn. PAC | Yes on Avalos, Chiu, & Yee for Mayor | Union dues of less than $100/member | n/a | n/a |
| Coleman Action Fund for Children Committee | Yes on Avalos for Mayor | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $6,257) | n/a | n/a |
| SF Tenants Union | Yes on Avalos for Mayor | Non-recipient Independent Expenditure Committee (This independent group does not receive contributions & spent its own $9,497) | ||
| SF Rising Action Fund Committee | Yes on Avalos & Lee for Mayor; Yes on C; No on D & H | (1) SEIU 1021 Candidate PAC & (2) Mitchell Kapor ($5,000 each) | Pamela Lee ($100) | n/a |
| SF Democratic County Central Committee | Yes on Avalos & Herrera for Mayor, Bock & Onek for DA, & Mirkarimi for Sheriff; Yes on A, B, C & G; No on D, E, F, & H | Unknown (state General Purpose Committees not required to report contributions received after June 30th in odd-numbered years until following January) | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $14,607) | Clinton Reilly ($10,000) |
| Coalition For Sensible Government | Yes on Alioto-Pier, Chiu, Dufty, Lee, & Yee for Mayor; Yes on E | SF Association of Realtors ($160,000) | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $5,784) | n/a |
| Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe California Political Action Committee | Yes on A & C | Unknown (state General Purpose Committees not required to report contributions received after June 30th in odd-numbered years until following January) | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $13,347) | n/a |
| Educating Voters for Jobs Against Avalos and Adachi for Mayor 2011 | No on Adachi & Avalos for Mayor | (1) U.A. Local 38 COPE Fund, (2) Sprinkler Fitters & Apprentices Local 483 Local PAC, (3) SF Building & Construction Trades Council POWER PAC, (4) SF Police Officers Assn. PAC, (5) International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 6 Political Account, & (6) Sheet Metal Workers Local Union No. 104 ($5,000 each) | SF Fire Fighters PAC ($3,000) | Teamsters Local Union No. 350 ($2,500) |
Table 2 — Ballot Measure Campaigns
|
Committee Name |
Position |
#1 Donor |
#2 Donor |
#3 Donor |
| Support Quality Neighborhood Schools for All – Yes on H, Supported by Entrepreneur Joanna Rees and Education Reform Advocates | Yes on H | Joanna Rees ($125,000) | MPDSE, Inc. ($2,000) | (1) Bernard Sucher, (2) Charles Smith, (3) Harry Rhoads Jr., & (4) Thomas Newton ($1,000 each) |
| Students First | Yes on H | Warren & Associates LLC ($8,682) | Sutton Law Firm ($5,488) | Howard Atkins ($5,000) |
| Yes on Proposition G 2011 | Yes on G | SEIU United Healthcare Workers West ($77,008) | CA State Council of Service Employees Issues Committee ($50,000) | Lennar Urban ($10,000) |
| SEIU Healthcare Workers West Political Issues Committee, Yes on Measure G | Yes on G | Californians for Quality Healthcare ($56,137) | SEIU United Healthcare Workers West ($23,017) | Pre-July 1 (7/1/11 cash balance: $10,350) |
| Yes on E, San Franciscans for Ballot Measure Reform, Supported by Supervisor Scott Wiener | Yes on E | Committee on Jobs Government Reform Fund ($15,000) | (1) Ron Conway & (2) Building Owners & Managers Assn. of SF PAC – Ballot Issues ($10,000 each) | Shorenstein Realty Services LP ($2,500) |
| Yes on Proposition D, supported by Public Defender Jeff Adachi, Basic American Foods executive George Hume & business investor Michael Moritz | Yes on D | (1) Michael Moritz & (2) George Hume ($250,000 each) | (1) Franklin Johnson Jr. & (2) G. Leonard Baker Jr. ($25,000 each) | (1) David Singer, (2) Arthur Kern, (3) Arjun Gupta, (4) Stephen Bechtel Jr., & (5) Elizabeth Bechtel ($10,000 each) |
| San Franciscans United for Pension and Health Reform | Yes on C, No on D | (1) Warren Hellman & (2) SEIU Local 1021 ($200,000 each) | SF Police Officers Assn. ($195,000) | Professional & Technical Engineers Local 21 ($188,771) |
| Standing Up For Working Families | Yes on C, No on D | San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 798, Yes on C, No on D ($50,000) | Professional & Technical Engineers Local 21 ($37,000) | SF Police Officers Assn. ($34,532) |
| SF Fire Fighters Local 798, Yes on C, No on D | Yes on C, No on D | Union dues of less than $100/member | n/a | n/a |
| Fix Our Streets | Yes on B | (1) Recology Inc., (2) Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, (3) Laborer’s International Union of North America, & (4) Academy of Art University ($10,000 each) | HOK Architects, Inc. ($7,500) | (1) Turner Construction, (2) Mark Pincus, (3) PG&E, (4) Committee on Jobs, (5) AECOM Technology Corp., (6) AT&T California Employee PAC, (7) Webcor Construction LP, (8) SF Forward (SF Chamber of Commerce), (9) Lennar Communities, (10) Jacobs Engineering Group, (11) Emerald Fund, & (12) CA State Council of Laborers Issues PAC ($5,000 each) |
| Rebuilding San Francisco Schools | Yes on A | (1) Warren Hellman, (2), United Educators of SF, (3) Philip Halperin, & (4) Doris Fisher ($25,000 each) | AECOM Technology Corp. ($15,000) | (1) McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., (2) Kathryn Hall, (3) Lawrence Stupski, (4) John Skully, (5) Lenny Mendonca, & (6) Northern California Carpenters Regional Council ($10,000 each) |
| One California For All – Yee for A | Yes on A | U.S. Freight Systems, Inc. ($15,000) | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $11,469) | (1) Professional Engineers in California Government & (2) Maryann Mascarinas ($10,000 each) |
| H No! Let Parents Decide | No on H | United Educators of SF ($85,000) | (1) SEIU Local 1021 & (2) Joe Carouba ($5,000 each) | California Federation of Teachers ($4,000) |
| Committee for a Fair & Better SF | No on G | Michael Moritz ($25,500) | Eric Schmidt ($15,000) | (1) Greggory Wendt & (2) Thomas Weisel ($10,000 each) |
| Friends of Ethics | No on E & F | Larry Bush ($4,500) | Tom Ammiano for Assembly ($1,268) | Robert Dockendorff ($1,000) |
| Protect Our Benefits | No on C | Pre-2011 (1/1/11 cash balance: $60,610) | Jean Donaldson ($1,000) | (1) Ann Hearne & (2) Bernard Becker ($500 each) |
Disclosure: Though the author has been involved in 2011 San Francisco election campaigns, the work for this project was independent of any election campaign. This report was produced in the interest of making campaign finance disclosures accessible to the general public.
The Hunger Site
November 9, 2011 at 2:25 pm
P.S. – according to reports, voter turnout in SF was 30%.
November 8, 2011 at 9:34 am
@Richmondman, agreed. A sleeping electorate is definitely a big part of the problem.
November 8, 2011 at 9:25 am
Luke – Politicians are for sale to the highest bidders. If everyone votes, people can overcome the impact of money – that is democracy in action. But not enough people vote. But when you get under 50% participation in elections, you get elected officials that don’t represent their constituency. They are beholden to the donors.
November 8, 2011 at 7:42 am
@Greg, democracy is apparently for sale to the highest bidders.
November 7, 2011 at 10:21 pm
This is what passes for democracy in our country?
November 7, 2011 at 11:31 am
My submitted title was “Top Three 2011 Donors to Each San Francisco Election Campaign.”
November 7, 2011 at 8:50 am
Title should have been “Wealthy Unions and Individuals bankroll election efforts”. It omits the $275K by Municipal Workers Union to defeat Ed Lee and $200K by SEIU to defeat pension reforms.
November 6, 2011 at 1:08 pm
@Luke,
Much obliged. The new title has a better cadence.
-jtw
November 6, 2011 at 12:53 pm
@Jonathan, I went by the three examples mentioned in the article to formulate the title.
But, you’re right, upon further review, the title is misleading.
Stand by for a modification.
Luke
November 6, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Oliver,
Thanks for the analysis, very enlightening, as always. However, I do have a serious concern with the message you are conveying here.
Hellman’s contributions combined equal $225,000 while Michael Moritz and George Hume each contributed $250,000 to Prop D. Plus, Moritz contributed an additional $25,500 to oppose Prop G for an aggregate total of $275,500 in contributions.
Please let us know why you (or perhaps Luke) chose to mention Hellman’s name in the title of this report as well as highlight his contributions in the opening notes.
Moritz clearly outspent Hellman by $50,500. And the fact that he did so to support anti-worker and anti revenue ballot measures concerns me a great deal more than Hellman’s efforts to offer consensus legislation to address the unfunded liabilities of the SFERS and retiree health system and his support of a schools bond.