SF candidate wants rival’s $500,000 crypto donation steered to the community

Individual donors are capped at $500 in direct contributions to a candidate, but no such limit applies to independent expenditure committees, which can raise and spend unlimited sums as long as they don’t coordinate with a campaign.

It’s not unusual for PACs to give money to charity. They just don’t have to. Because the PAC isn’t a candidate-controlled committee, San Francisco’s surplus-funds laws don’t apply.

Rather, it falls under the California Political Reform Act’s general rules for campaign funds. Under California Government Code, Section 89515, campaign funds may be donated to “bona fide charitable, educational, civic, religious, or similar tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations.”

That means a Bayview church could qualify, as long as no committee insider personally benefits and the gift “bears a reasonable relation to a political, legislative, or governmental purpose” of the PAC.

Both J.R. Eppler and D.J. Brookter, Ellington’s other opponents, criticized the Larsen contribution when it was first reported last week.

Eppler said District 10 "deserves a supervisor who represents the hardworking people who live here” and argued billionaires “make investments and expect returns.” Brookter said it raises the question of “whose interests will actually be represented in office.”