Local crypto billionaire Chris Larsen has given half a million dollars to a group backing moderate District 10 supervisor candidate Theo Ellington, as two data centers quietly move forward near Bayview and Visitacion Valley.
Larsen’s $500,000 contribution went to the political action committee, "From the Neighborhood, For the City, Supporting Theo Ellington for Supervisor 2026," which was created just two weeks earlier. As the Chronicle reports, this makes Larsen’s contribution one of the largest ever directed toward a single supervisor candidate.
Although San Francisco caps direct contributions to candidates at $500, wealthy donors can give substantially more through independent groups — a loophole that ethics officials are working to eliminate, as Mission Local reported last month.
Ellington, who runs the Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House and is a registered city lobbyist, is running to replace termed-out Supervisor Shamann Walton in District 10, which includes Bayview-Hunters Point, Visitacion Valley, Portola, Dogpatch, and other southeastern neighborhoods. The moderate political action committee, GrowSF, has endorsed him for the seat, citing his positions on housing development and other issues.
According to Mission Local, he is competing against J.R. Eppler and Dion-Jay “D.J.” Brookter, with Ellington already holding a substantial fundraising advantage. As of early September, his campaign had about $472,000, compared with $151,000 for Eppler and $129,000 for Brookter, while GrowSF had spent at least $61,000 supporting Ellington.
The race has also put development and surveillance technology under a microscope. Ellington has reportedly said he would support Flock surveillance cameras with guardrails, while Eppler and Brookter have opposed their use. Ellington has also taken a more permissive position on the city’s RV ban than his opponents.
Meanwhile, the SF Examiner reported last year that two data centers were quietly planned in the Bayview area, including one that was already operating. Local content creator Shot of Culture has pointed out that District 10 is one of the city’s remaining working-class districts while raising questions about the lack of public information about the two data centers.
Shot of Culture says its recent posts on District 10 also appear to have ruffled the feathers of another local tech billionaire and Grow SF board member, Garry Tan. Shot of Culture's content on TikTok has also recently been suppressed.
The Chronicle notes that Larsen has spent years putting his money behind San Francisco political and public-safety efforts, contributing millions toward projects like the San Francisco Police Department’s technology hub and revamping a Tenderloin commercial corridor. He and his wife, Lyna Lam, have also put millions toward committees supporting Mayor Daniel Lurie’s charter-reform measures, while Ripple has contributed to Lurie-backed efforts.
Ellington’s opponents questioned Larsen's contribution and whether a candidate backed by a billionaire would remain accountable to District 10 residents, per the Chronicle.
“With a historic contribution like this, voters must ask themselves a simple question: when tech billionaires and corporate interests are this invested in a district race, whose interests will actually be represented in office?” said Brookter.
Local PR guy Sam Singer also sent in a statement from Ellington's opponent in their race, Shawn M. Richards, who said, "District 10 is not for sale. The future of our community should never be determined by who can write the biggest check." Richards added, "A half-million-dollar contribution from one billionaire into a political committee supporting a candidate raises serious questions about the growing influence of outside wealth in our local elections."
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