{"id":47755,"date":"2026-04-17T11:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T18:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=47755"},"modified":"2026-04-17T11:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T18:20:12","slug":"saikat-chakrabarti-spends-5m-running-for-congress-its-just-a-down-payment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/saikat-chakrabarti-spends-5m-running-for-congress-its-just-a-down-payment\/","title":{"rendered":"Saikat Chakrabarti spends $5M running for Congress. It\u2019s just a down payment."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scott Wiener leads direct fundraising with $3.5 million, Connie Chan trails with $459,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A\"A\"Aby\u00a0Kelly Waldron<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Io Yeh Gilman<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Yujie Zhou<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 16, 2026 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti poses for a picture at a cafe close to Duboce Triangle on Feb. 25, 2026. Photo by Yujie Zhou.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Saikat Chakrabarti, a top contender<\/a> in the race<\/a> to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi in California\u2019s 11th congressional district, has more money fueling his campaign than every other candidate combined \u2014 most of it from his own wallet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chakrabarti\u2019s campaign raised $5.2 million, which includes $4.8 million he\u2019s pitched in himself, according to federal filings released on Wednesday. The filings show money raised by campaigns as of the end of March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Already, Chakrabarti has burned through all but $209,000, spending close to $5 million \u2014 $3.3 million of that in the first quarter of 2026 alone. Chakrabarti, who became a centimillionaire after working for Stripe, can contribute more money to his campaign at any time.https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/8Lh0e\/6\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bulk of his spending so far this year has gone toward ads, including TV spots that have become ubiquitous in San Francisco homes. The relatively unknown candidate is seeking to quickly increase name recognition against his rivals, both of whom are long-serving elected officials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Wiener, the state senator and presumptive front-runner<\/a>, has raised $3.5 million to fund his campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Chakrabarti, Wiener\u2019s cash comes almost entirely from direct fundraising: 98 percent of the contributions to his campaign came from individual donors, the rest from political action committees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Summer<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Connie Chan, the District 1 supervisor, trails far behind her opponents with $459,000. Around 90 percent of that is from direct fundraising, the rest from PACs. She started fundraising in November 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Wiener and Chan, though trailing Chakrabarti in total funds because of his self-financing, have raised more money from donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marie Hurabiell, a former Trump appointee turned Democrat, only entered the race in February<\/a>. She has amassed some $420,000, with $100,000 of that coming from her own funds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday\u2019s filings give voters a detailed look into each candidate\u2019s finances and, by extension, the health of the campaigns. Candidates will face off in a June 2 primary, where only the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will advance to the November election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who has the most donors?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although only about $360,000 of Chakrabarti\u2019s fundraising has come from individual donors, Chakrabarti\u2019s campaign touted an eye-popping 13,000 of them, according to communications director Tiffaney Bradley. It\u2019s an indication of small-dollar giving.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Music<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can see the grassroots support behind us in our numbers \u2026 with an average donation of $27 and strong support across San Francisco and the state,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chakrabarti\u2019s campaign sent out an email blast on March 30, a day before the Federal Election Commission\u2019s filing deadline, to ask for small donations. It\u2019s unclear how many came in after that email. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReporters and pundits pay close attention to these end-of-quarter filings to determine whether a campaign is serious about going the distance \u2014 so we\u2019re asking people to chip in $1 and demonstrate just how many supporters are ready to back Saikat,\u201d Emily Hyden, Charkarbarti\u2019s campaign manager, wrote in the email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wiener has also amassed a large donor base, but it is a fraction of Chakrabarti\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to his campaign, 3,371 donors contributed to support Wiener\u2019s run for Congress, and three-quarters of those who gave this year were first-time donors to the campaign. Wiener\u2019s $3.5 million is also the result of almost three years of fundraising, which began as early as June 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Open<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wiener has relied on larger contributions from fewer donors. Between 2023 and 2025, his campaign received over 800 contributions of more than $3,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chan said over 2,000 individual donors contributed to her campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConnie Chan is a longtime public servant. She is not bankrolled by billionaires. She is not a tech millionaire,\u201d said Julie Edwards, the spokesperson for Chan\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is why she has the support of working people like teachers, nurses, firefighters, hotel workers, seniors, tenants and students \u2014 over 2,000 individual donors \u2014 who will continue to power this campaign to victory on June 2.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marie Hurabiell, who was last to join the race seven weeks ago<\/a>, has about $420,000 in the bank. While Hurabiell touted this figure on social media<\/a>, a quarter of that came from her own funds, and not from direct fundraising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Valencia<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hurabiell said her campaign will start airing TV ads in two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Committees run by candidates are subject to contribution limits, unlike independent expenditure committees, or PACs. Individuals can only give up to $3,500<\/a> to a federal candidate per election \u2014 the candidate themselves, however, can give as much as they like, as Chakrabarti has. The June primary and November election are counted as separate elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An independent expenditure for Chan, the \u201cWorking Families for San Francisco PAC,\u201d was created<\/a> on March 26 and will be funded mostly by local labor unions, according to political consultant David Ho, who is running it. It has not yet reported any contributions or any expenditures in the race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, an anti-Chakrabarti PAC backed by major tech donors and a criminal-justice advocacy group has already paid for more than $200,000 worth of mailers and advertisements attacking the candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where are the candidates spending?<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Over $2 million of Chakrabarti\u2019s $3.3 million in spending during the first quarter of this year went to advertising in January, February and March, including several hundred-thousand dollar television ad buys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ODC<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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