Lurie’s $164M Network Reshapes SF as Prop. 40 Trails 46%–52%

With less than a week remaining before the Nov. 3 election, new campaign finance analyses and statewide polling highlight the extraordinary scale of private wealth shaping local and state ballot measures across the Bay Area and California, according to reports from The San Francisco Standard, the San Francisco Examiner, and NBC Bay Area.

Inside Mayor Daniel Lurie’s $164 Million San Francisco Political and Philanthropic Footprint

An analysis published Wednesday by The San Francisco Standard calculated that San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, his mother Mimi Haas, and their network of wealthy donors have channeled roughly $164 million since 2023 across three distinct tracks to advance Lurie’s agenda at City Hall:

1. $38.9 Million in Political Campaign Spending: Includes $9 million of Lurie’s personal fortune spent on his 2024 mayoral election and $18.6 million raised to back four 2026 city ballot measures—Propositions D, E, F, and H—covering homelessness policy, commission reform, and firefighter health funds.
2. $123.6 Million in Private Philanthropic Partnerships: Includes $49 million raised with Mimi Haas for the Breaking the Cycle homelessness and behavioral health initiative and $60 million pledged by tech billionaires including Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum to the Downtown Development Corporation, chaired by Sixth Street co-founder David Stiepleman.
3. $1.2 Million in Personal Consultant Payments: Paid directly out of Lurie’s personal funds to political strategists, pollsters, and communications advisers counseling him while in office.

$333 Million Opposition Campaign Pushes California’s Prop. 40 Behind 46% to 52% in PPIC Poll

Statewide, a coalition called Building a Better California has amassed more than $333 million from roughly 80 contributors to defeat Proposition 40, the ballot measure sponsored by health care union SEIU-UHW that would levy a one-time 5% tax on billionaire fortunes to raise an estimated $100 billion for health care and education, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

Top contributors to the No on Prop. 40 campaign include Google co-founder Sergey Brin ($102 million), former Google CEO Eric Schmidt (more than $40 million), Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr ($40 million), and Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison ($33 million).

According to a new Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) survey of 1,086 likely voters conducted Oct. 16–22 with a ±3.8 percentage point margin of error and reported by Dustin Gardiner in The San Francisco Standard, Proposition 40 now trails 46% yes to 52% no. While 83% of Republicans and 55% of independent voters oppose the measure, support among Democrats has slipped to 64%. In the same PPIC survey, business-backed Proposition 42 (requiring voter approval for new state taxes and fees) leads with 51% support, while Democrat Xavier Becerra leads Republican Steve Hilton 61% to 37% in the California governor’s race.

Sausalito Voters Weigh Measure X Over Marinship Waterfront Zoning and 47-Foot Height Limits

Across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, Sausalito voters are deciding on Measure X, which would overhaul the city’s 41-year-old 1985 Fair Traffic Initiative (Ordinance 1022) governing the 80-acre industrial Marinship waterfront, according to NBC Bay Area.

Measure X would allow buildings in designated waterfront areas to rise from the current 32-foot height limit up to 47 feet—a change supporters say is needed to elevate structures against sea-level rise and satisfy state-mandated housing quotas—while allowing cafes, bakeries, and microbreweries alongside traditional maritime businesses. Supporters include Yes on X co-chair Sharna Brockett, fourth-generation Clipper Yacht Harbor owner KC Pederson, and harbormaster Curtis Havel, while opponents—led by No on X chair Melissa Pergerson, artist Allisandre Haas, and Sausalito Councilmember Jill Hoffman—warn that taller buildings and retail conversions could displace working boatyards and local artists.