San Francisco Democratic Party Accuses Farrell of Misleading Voters With Proposition D Ad

This report contains a correction.

The San Francisco Democratic Party said mayoral candidate Mark Farrell used its logo on a ballot measure campaign ad in a way that was “not authorized” and misleading to voters, according to a letter sent to the former interim mayor and San Francisco supervisor.

The complaint adds to a growing list of ethics concerns that Farrell’s opponents have raised about the connections between his mayoral campaign and support for the ballot measure Proposition D, which is backed by millions of dollars in fundraising and aims to cut the number of city commissions by nearly half. Farrell’s backers maintain that their approach is fair and legal.

A photo of Farrell is featured prominently on the Yes on D mailer next to the SF Dems logo and text saying the party endorses the measure. The design looks similar to the party’s official endorsement seal and could mislead voters into thinking that the group endorsed Farrell for mayor, according to the letter.

“We issued this letter to basically caution Mark Farrell and his team that we did think this particular flier and mailer was confusing, it could be misleading to voters, and to inform them of the penalties that could happen if they continue to do things along these lines,” SF Democratic Party Chair Nancy Tung told KQED. “The letter is an attempt for the party to protect the endorsement, not just for Prop. D, but also for our endorsement for mayor.”

Although the SF Democratic Party — also known as the Democratic County Central Committee, or DCCC — has endorsed Proposition D, it selected incumbent Mayor London Breed as its sole endorsement for mayor this summer.

Farrell suggested that the complaints were an effort by his opponents to smear his campaign.

“It is sad that Mayor Breed’s supporters are trying to make an issue out of nothing because they want to distract from her failed leadership for San Francisco. Anyone can clearly see that the logo on the mailer says that the Party endorsed Yes on D,” Jade Tu, a DCCC member and Farrell’s mayoral campaign manager, said in a statement. “As a member of the DCCC, I believe our body should be focused on delivering the change that we were elected to enact instead of throwing mud on behalf of Mayor Breed at one of her political opponents and a fellow Democrat.”

It is legal for candidates to appear in campaign advertisements in support of ballot measures, and others running for mayor this year are also backing ballot proposals. A competing measure from Board of Supervisors president and mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin, Proposition E, would set up a task force to evaluate and propose changes to the city’s commission system but does not set a cap on the number of commissions like Proposition D.

Farrell’s opponents, however, say his mayoral campaign is receiving an unfair boost by improperly using funds and resources intended for Proposition D, which is backed by the moderate political organizing group TogetherSF. Through multiple fundraising committees, the ballot measure is raking in millions of dollars from the likes of venture capitalist Michael Moritz, conservative donor William Oberndorf and other billionaires.

The Democratic Party’s letter also mentions a previous Yes on D mailer featuring Farrell that did not include any mention of Proposition D on one side of the flier, which attorneys for other mayoral candidates said may violate campaign ethics laws, according to Mission Local.

While Farrell accused the local Democratic Party of acting on behalf of Breed, Tung said Breed’s campaign was not consulted or involved in the executive board’s decision to issue the letter.

The letter states that there is “no nefarious intent behind the design” but that the executive board unanimously agreed the placement of the logo was misleading to voters.

Penalties are not off the table if future mailers raise the same concerns, Tung said. That could range from a more public admonishment or a press conference all the way up to revocation of the party’s endorsement of Proposition D, Tung said.

“This is an issue about protecting the integrity of the San Francisco Democratic Party’s endorsement,” Tung said. “I would think that any candidate or ballot proposition would want us to pursue that and not dilute our endorsement.”

Sept. 16: The original version of this report attributed a quote to a statement from Mark Farrell. It was from Jade Tu, Farrell’s campaign manager.