SF Election 2026: Big Donors, Power Grabs + What Voters Need to Know (SF)

League of Women Voters of San Francisco

Wealthy special interests are trying to grab more power in San Francisco — whether they succeed is up to voters.

At a time when public oversight is shrinking and power is being concentrated fewer hands, understanding the role of large campaign donors in our political process has never been more urgent.

Join Joe Rivano Barros of Mission Local for an in-depth look at who is spending millions on San Francisco’s November 2026 ballot propositions in an effort to influence your vote. You’ll learn how these megadonors are trying to change the outcome of the election to serve the few, not the many.

After Joe’s presentation, Lila LaHood of the San Francisco Public Press will moderate a panel discussion on money in local politics with Darius Kemp of California Common Cause and Patrick Ford of the San Francisco Ethics Commission, with time for questions from the audience.

Speakers

• Joe Rivano Barros, Executive Editor, Mission Local – Joe is an award-winning journalist whose coverage focuses on politics, campaign finance, Silicon Valley, and criminal justice. He received a B.A. at Stanford University for political science in 2014. He was born in Sweden, grew up in Chile, and moved to Oakland when he was eight.
• Patrick Ford, Executive Director, San Francisco Ethics Commission – Pat has served as the Ethics Commission’s Executive Director since January 2024, after joining in 2017 as Director of Enforcement. He leads the agency’s mission to administer campaign finance laws, investigate violations, and safeguard government integrity.
• Darius Kemp, Executive Director, California Common Cause – Darius brings over two decades in civil rights, organizing, and advocacy through roles at SEIU, Peace Corps, UC Student Association, Working America, and Eaze Technologies. He holds degrees from Alabama A&M University, the University of Birmingham, and UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
• Moderator: Lila LaHood, Executive Director, San Francisco Public Press – Lila is a member of San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance Task Force and on the board of directors of the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. She has worked as a nonprofit consultant and freelance editor, and was previously a business writer at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Co-hosts

League of Women Voters of San Francisco is a nonpartisan political nonprofit that empowers voters and defends democracy. People of all genders welcome. Learn more at lwvsf.org.

San Francisco Public Press is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that publishes independent public-interest journalism about under-covered topics, with a focus on historically under-served audiences. Learn more at sfpublicpress.org.

Special thanks

To our event venue, the Internet Archive, a nonprofit that is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge. Learn more at archive.org.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.