March 20, 2024
The Ethics Commission has certified the first Supervisorial candidate in District 11 as eligible to receive public funds in connection with the November 5, 2024, election. The Ernest ‘EJ’ Jones for Supervisor 2024 committee is the first candidate committee in the race to qualify to receive public funds and now eligible to receive a $60,000 initial grant from the City’s voter-approved Election Campaign Fund. As provided in SF Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code (SFC&GCC) Section 1.144(b), “[t]he Controller shall not make any payments under this Chapter to any candidate more than 142 days before the date of the election.” For the November 5, 2024, election, the earliest date candidates may receive public funding is Monday, June 17, 2024. All candidate committees in the District 11 Supervisorial race must now begin filing Form SFEC-152: Threshold Notice with the Commission disclosing when they have received contributions or made expenditures that in the aggregate equal or exceed $100,000 within 24 hours of reaching or exceeding the threshold. Thereafter, committees are required to file an additional Form SFEC-152 within 24 hours of every time they receive additional contributions or make additional expenditures that in the aggregate equal or exceed $10,000.
The City’s public campaign financing program serves many important public policy goals. The program seeks to ensure that candidates with a demonstrated level of community support can secure sufficient resources to mount a viable campaign. In doing so, public financing reduces candidates’ dependence on large private contributions, which lessens the potential for and appearance of undue influence by contributors and serves to improve the public’s trust in local government. Public financing also seeks to enable candidates to spend less time fundraising and more time interacting with voters and engaging in discussions on important issues. The availability of public funds also encourages citizens to be more politically active by incentivizing and empowering small-dollar contributions. By supporting candidates who have community support, public financing can also lead to more competitive races, which is important in ensuring quality representation of constituents.
Under the program, candidates for the Office of Mayor who qualify and meet program eligibility requirements may receive up to $1,200,000 in public funds ($1,185,500 for incumbent candidates). Candidates for the Board of Supervisors may receive up to $255,000 in public funds ($252,000 for incumbent candidates).
To participate in the public financing program, interested candidates must first meet all qualification requirements of the Department of Elections to appear on the ballot. Candidates who qualify to appear on the ballot must also meet the following program eligibility requirements:
- Raise a minimum number and total dollar amount of contributions from San Francisco residents: A non-incumbent Supervisorial candidate is required to raise qualifying contributions totaling at least $10,000 from at least 100 contributors, while an incumbent Supervisorial candidate is required to raise qualifying contributions totaling at least $15,000 from at least 150 contributors. A non-incumbent Mayoral candidate is required to raise qualifying contributions totaling at least $50,000 from at least 500 contributors, while an incumbent Mayoral candidate is required to raise qualifying contributions totaling at least $75,000 from at least 750 contributors. Only contributions between $10 and $100 count as qualifying contributions. These qualifying contributions must be received by the candidate no earlier than 18 months before the date of the election and no later than the 70th day before the election.
- Be opposed by a candidate who receives contributions or makes expenditures over a minimum amount: Supervisorial candidates must be opposed by a candidate who raises or spends at least $10,000. Mayoral candidates must be opposed by a candidate who raises or spends at least $50,000.
- Adhere to campaign spending limits: Candidates must adhere to campaign spending limits (Individual Expenditure Ceiling, or “IEC”) which may be adjusted. The initial IEC for Supervisorial candidates is $350,000. The initial IEC for Mayoral candidates is $1.7 million.
In addition to the requirements above, candidates must not accept loans from others, abide by limits on the amount of funds they loan/donate to their own campaign, agree to debate their opponents, and are subject to mandatory audit. Candidates, committee treasurers, and committee officers participating in the public financing program are responsible for understanding and complying with all eligibility requirements.
Please visit the Ethics Commission website for more information about the City’s public financing program, or contact the Commission at ethics.commission@sfgov.org or (415) 252-3100.
For the latest news and updates from the Commission, please subscribe here to receive notices via email, follow us on twitter, or visit www.sfethics.org.