Mapping the Money in the
SF School Board Recall

San Francisco voters will decide on Feb. 15 whether to oust three Board of Education members — Alison Collins, Gabriela López and Faauuga Moliga — in a recall election that's garnered national attention and could prove a bellwether for voter sentiment in progressive cities.

Tracking contributors is one way to measure the recall's grassroots support, and mapping where the money is coming from paints a picture of the neighborhoods that are supporting the recall.

The Standard mapped out the publicly available data on 1,088 recall supporters. This doesn't include all contributors under $100. Recall organizers say they have nearly 2,000 total contributors.

It's also worth nothing that the bulk of the money is coming from a handful of individuals: The Neighbors for a Better San Francisco PAC—comprised of wealthy San Francisco businesspeople—and investor Arthur Rock have contributed nearly $900,000 combined, and another handful of tech executives have contributed more than $10,000 apiece.

This map shows the number of recall contributors in each ZIP code in San Francisco. Most support is coming in from the western part of San Francisco: homeowner-rich, family friendly areas like Twin Peaks, West Portal and Noe Valley, as well as younger-skewing neighborhoods like the Mission and Lower Haight. Asian Americans have been strong recall proponents, and that's reflected in strong contributor numbers from the Sunset and Richmond neighborhoods.

Hover over the interactive map to see how many recall contributors there are in each ZIP code. This map is comprised of publicly available recall data.

Majority of contributors are in SF

Though the recall has received national attention, most of the contributions are still coming from San Francisco. Just 13.1% of contributors come from other California cities and 3.4% are from outside California.

The full Bay Area map shows where the recall is receiving support in the Bay Area. Areas with more contributors outside of San Francisco are family friendly, wealthier areas like Piedmont in the East Bay, Mill Valley in Marin County and Menlo Park in the Peninsula. Asian American-dense Foster City and Burlingame also had a few contributors.

Hover and zoom into the interactive map to see how many recall contributors there are in each ZIP code. This data is comprised of the publicly-available recall data.

While the vast majority of the recall contributions are from California, several other states also have recall contributors, such as New York, Massachusetts, Florida and Washington.

Hover over the interactive map to see how many recall contributors there are in each state. This data is comprised of the publicly available recall data.

Pro-Recall Fundraising Greatly Eclipses Anti-Recall Fundraising

The recall supporters have raised over 20 times more money than the recall's opponents. The recall's nearly-$2 million haul is a lot, especially given that the recall isn't something that corporate interests would be willing to spend big on. For example, when Collins, López and Moliga originally ran in 2018, they each raised less than $50,000. It's worth noting, though, that unlike candidates, the recall committee can raise unlimited sums from contributors.

Mapping the Anti-Recall Money

The anti-recall committees have far fewer contributors— around 100. They also have a greater share of contributors coming from places other than San Francisco, with 43% of their contributors living outside of the city.

This map shows the number of anti-recall contributors in each ZIP code in San Francisco. The two neighborhoods that stand out are the Mission and the Sunset.

Hover over the interactive map to see how many recall contributors there are in each ZIP code. This map is comprised of the publicly available recall data.

About the data

The Standard downloaded publicly available data for the Board of Education recall contributions on Feb. 3, 2022. The information can be found on the San Francisco Ethics Commission website here. When individuals contribute to political campaigns, committees and recalls, they must fill out information that becomes publicly available. Currently, that information is available for individuals contributing at least $100 total to the recall before Dec. 31, 2021 (though the committees may optionally make disclosures for smaller contributors as well). This information is available within 24 hours for contributions above $1,000. Additional information came directly from the Recall SF School Board committee's chairs, Autumn Looijen and Siva Raj.