- By Adam Shanks | Examiner staff writer |
- Feb 20, 2024 Updated 16 hrs ago (SFExaminer.com)
Mark Farrell has quickly coalesced a contingent of campaign donors and cash, but he still has a lot of catching up to do.
Farrell’s nascent mayoral campaign touted his campaign’s ability to raise its first $200,000 on Friday, which it says was a quicker launch from the starting line than any other candidate for mayor in the November election.
Farrell, who was appointed mayor for six months in 2018 following the death of Mayor Ed Lee, got a late start and was trailing the fundraising frontrunner — Daniel Lurie — by more than $300,000 at the end of last week. He’s also behind Mayor London Breed, who is seeking a second term in office.
Although he only formally announced his candidacy last week, Farrell was widely rumored to be mulling a run for several months. His entry into the race was hardly a surprise to potential campaign contributors who raced to chip in during the campaign’s early hours.
Farrell boasts a wealth of experience in the private and public sectors, with potential donors in both. Farrell built a career as a venture capitalist before his election in 2010 to the Board of Supervisors, on which he served two terms before his appointment to a brief stint as mayor and has returned to the private sector in the years since.
Given his wide network, a key test of Farrell’s formidability might be whether or not he can sustain the early fundraising momentum in the coming months.
Farrell’s campaign declined to share a list of the donors’ names with The Examiner, although they will eventually be disclosed under campaign finance law requirements. If he does opt in to the public-financing program, his campaign could accrue up to $1.2 million in matching funds from The City.
Farrell launched his campaign this week with a proudly pro-business and public-safety-focused platform that included a pledge to fire police Chief Bill Scott, return cars to Market Street and clear streets of homeless encampments.
“Mark is the only candidate with a track record of effective leadership inside and outside of City Hall and the right experience and policies to turn San Francisco around starting on day one,” Jade Tu, Farrell’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
It’s not unusual for candidates to highlight early fundraising numbers as evidence of broad support. Lurie did the same in October, announcing he had raised $230,000 in the first two weeks.
The money raised by candidates will likely be dwarfed by what’s raked in and spent on the race by private groups. Still, campaign contributions can serve as an important barometer for a campaign’s legitimacy.
