By Thomas K. Pendergast

Although most media coverage of San Francisco’s upcoming elections has focused on big money donors like Ron Conway and others, a sampling of who is giving smaller donations of less than $500 each also tells a story.

In the Richmond District, the two leading candidates for supervisor, incumbent Connie Chan and third-time challenger Marjan Philhour, have been raising money from very different sources to fund their respective campaigns.

Of the two, Philhour appears to be raising more money from the smaller donors than Chan, although the district supervisor has been pulling in large sums as well.

Between January of 2023 and June of 2024, Philhour raised $200,309 in individual donations of $500 or less, while Chan raised $132,468 in that time.

These donations are separate from the money they both raised when running for the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee.

Most telling is what industries and types of businesses were giving to each of the respective candidates.

Chan appears to be raising most of her money from worker’s unions, government workers, educators and retired people.

Philhour is receiving a lot of web and computer company money, as well as real estate interests, venture capital and law firms associated with those interests, and other financial companies.

A four-month sampling of SF Department of Elections records focusing between the beginning of November 2023 and the end of February 2024 shows Philhour receiving $8,650 from employees or owners of tech companies and another $8,300 from venture capital firms.

Legal firms contributed $5,900 in that time; finance related companies contributed $18,880.

Philhour received $7,450 from sources aligned with education and $3,350 came from people who describe themselves as “self-employed.”

Meanwhile, in that same four-month period Chan raised $4,300 from unions, $1,940 from education sources, $3,925 from people who work in government, and about $1,100 from nonprofits.

Perhaps unexpected were donations to the candidates from retired people and people who described themselves as “unemployed.”

Philhour garnered $15,950 from people who described themselves as “retired” and another $19,050 who described themselves as “unemployed” for a total of $35,000.

Chan also received money from people describing themselves as “retired,” at about $6,240 but only received $433 from people describing themselves as “unemployed.”