San Francisco Democratic Mayor London Breed is facing a tough reelection race this year.
Her approving ratings have fallen, polling shows her losing in a head-to-head matchup with challenger Daniel Lurie, and the city’s projected budget deficit is growing by the day. Compounding her woes is a sizable funding gap.
So far, mayoral campaigns and committees supporting the three candidates in the race, Breed, Lurie, and Ahsha Safai, have raised more than $4.8 million.
That’s bad news for Breed, whose personal reelection campaign pulled in $408,000 last year and an independent committee supporting her run raised a little more than $265,000, according to filings with the San Francisco Ethics Commission. Combined, her totals are only a sixth of what Lurie has raised since September and could spell trouble this November.
Breed narrowly won her race in 2018 following the sudden death of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. The special election to fill the vacancy turned out to be the most expensive mayoral race in the city’s history, with more than $8.4 million put into coffers. This year’s matchup is on track to top those figures.
The vast majority of money raised from independent committees supporting her reelection bid came from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The one-time presidential contender and former three-term mayor donated $200,000 to Forward Action AF, according to campaign finance documents.
Bloomberg and Breed have a long history of supporting each other, with Breed endorsing the billionaire media mogul during his campaign for the White House in 2020. Like Bloomberg, Breed has tried to position herself as a tough-on-crime centrist, though the position hasn’t been popular with San Francisco progressives.
Lurie, her closest political rival, has tapped into his family’s massive fortune to help fund his campaign.
His mother, Mimi Haas, the widow of Peter Haas, the great-grandnephew of iconic blue jeans manufacturer Levi Strauss, gave $1 million to the group “Believe in SF, Lurie for Mayor 2024.” Lurie’s bother Ari cut checks totaling $350,000 to two committees supporting his brother’s bid.
The San Francisco Standard reported that “a mix of San Francisco bluebloods and new money venture capitalists” are also ready, with their wallets open, to give to Lurie’s mayoral campaign. His campaign manager, Trishala Vinnakota, said the money and support coming his way is due to Lurie being “the only candidate running to replace City Hall insiders with new ideas and accountable leadership.”
Safai raised more than $333,000 last year but does not have an outside committee supporting his run. According to his campaign, he is on pace to hit a threshold that will allow him to be eligible for public matching funds, which could top $1.2 million for qualifying mayoral candidates.
San Francisco is one of a few places that allows candidates to tap into taxpayer money to help their campaigns run. Under the program, candidates for mayor may receive $1.2 million in public funds, while candidates for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors may get up to $255,000.
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Los Angeles and New York have similar programs, while Seattle has a “Democracy Voucher Program,” which lets voters distribute city funds to their candidate of choice.
Breed may also have another challenger vying for campaign cash. There has been speculation that former San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell could enter the race in the coming weeks.
