For release: Friday, May 17, 2019
As required by the City’s public campaign funding program, Ethics Commission Executive Director LeeAnn Pelham today announced the first certification of eligibility to receive public funds in connection with the November 5, 2019 Supervisorial District 5 race. Based on a review by Ethics Commission staff of a Qualifying Request submitted by the Vallie Brown for Supervisor 2019 committee, Brown’s campaign will be eligible to receive $20,000 as an initial grant of public funds from the San Francisco Election Campaign Fund. Under City law enacted in 2012, public funds may not be disbursed to candidates any earlier than 142 days before the election. The first day any candidate for office in the November 2019 election may receive public funds, therefore, is June 17, 2019.
To qualify for public campaign funding, incumbent candidates for the Board of Supervisors are required to demonstrate that they have received qualifying contributions ranging from $10 to $100 totaling $15,000 from at least 150 residents of the City. Non-incumbent candidates must raise $10,000 in total contributions from at least 100 residents of the City. Once the Ethics Commission certifies a candidate’s eligibility, various reporting requirements are triggered for all candidates in that race. To receive public funding, Supervisorial candidates must also agree to abide by a $250,000 initial campaign expenditure ceiling. Non-incumbent candidates may qualify to receive up to $155,000 in public funds for their campaign depending on the amount of matching contributions they raise, while incumbents may qualify to receive up to $152,500 in public funds. Under the law, only contributions raised from San Francisco residents are eligible to be matched. The Election Campaign Fund is funded through the City’s General Fund with an annual appropriation based on the number of city residents, up to a maximum Fund level of $7 million.
Before receiving any public funds, Supervisorial candidates certified as eligible by the Ethics Commission must also be certified by the Department of Elections as a candidate whose name will appear on the ballot. For the November election, candidate lists become final after the June 11, 2019, nomination deadline for those offices. All candidates who receive public funds are audited by the Ethics Commission after the election.
For more information, contact the Ethics Commission at ethics.commission@sfgov.org or (415) 252-3100.