Jackie Fielder, a candidate for District Nine supervisor, has already raised enough money to qualify for $306,000 in campaign funds, she announced yesterday.
That means Fielder, who entered the race before any other candidates, already has nearly as much money as candidates who get public financing are allowed to spend.
The spending cap for a supes race is $350,000.
Fielder told me she has raised $51,000 total, and $48,000 from San Francisco residents—enough to qualify her for matching funds that will allow her to put her campaign in gear before other expected candidates, including Santiago Lerma, who is chief of staff to Sup. Hillary Ronen, have formally enter the race.
With public financing, it’s likely that Lerma and potentially Roberto Hernandez, director of CANA, and Human Rights Campaign staffer Trevor Chandler, will all be at or close to the spending limit.
But only Chandler is formally in the race and able to raise money at this point.
The spending limit is lifted if any of the candidates breaks it—or if there’s outside “independent expenditure” money in the race.
It’s not clear whether any of the big conservative groups that have spent big money attacking progressive candidates will make an effort in D9.
But whatever happens in the future, Fielder is now the first candidate who can hire staff and set up a campaign office. She already has consultants Jim Stearns and Red Bridge Strategies lined up to help her.
Fielder, vice chair of the city’s Local Agency Formation Commission, is a queer woman who identifies as Native American and Latina. She was a leader in the campaign for a public bank. She ran for state Senate against Scott Wiener in 2020 and won 42 percent of the vote, including a majority in D9.
