San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s political rivals are claiming that a lavish, A-list party she helped throw at the Democratic National Convention this week crossed ethical lines because it was paid for by a billionaire donor to her campaign.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen footed the bill for party participants at Tao nightclub in Chicago’s swanky River North neighborhood. He paid for the open bar, wagyu beef sliders, all-you-can-eat sushi, and more. The over-the-top, 500-person, invitation-only event was one of the hottest tickets in town during the four-day Democratic convention and featured a performance by The Killers.
The bash was billed not only as a party for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris but also a salute to San Francisco.
Breed is in a tough reelection fight for mayor. She took center stage at the party and spoke about a city that’s been battered by homelessness, retail theft, and crime.
“Tonight is really a time to talk about not just Kamala Harris but to talk about everything that San Francisco represents,” she said. “It is so critical that we talk about the truth about San Francisco because Republicans are trying to turn San Francisco into something it is not. They’re trying to turn San Francisco into a bad word.”
While her intentions may have been good, other candidates in the race have accused Breed of ethics violations because Larsen is one of the mayor’s biggest financial backers. Larsen dropped $400,000 on a committee to back Breed’s reelection bid, Forward Action SF, Supporting London Breed for Mayor 2024.
While independent campaign committees can raise enormous amounts of money for a campaign without crossing a line because they are purportedly independent of the candidates themselves, candidate committees can only raise money in $500 increments. Independent committees are also banned by law from talking to candidates about strategy.
In Breed’s case, she was caught talking to Larsen at length during the party at Tao, though no one knows exactly what the tête-à-tête was about.
That still hasn’t stopped her rival, Mark Farrell, from calling foul.
“It should raise eyebrows that Mayor Breed attended a lavish party hosted by and spent hours in a VIP only room talking all night with Chris Larsen, who is the largest contributor to her independent expenditure committee,” Farrell campaign manager Jade Tu said in a statement. “How do voters know and trust that they didn’t talk about her campaign or strategy at all?”
Breed spokesman Joe Arellano pushed back on the accusation.
“Instead of promoting our city as a wonderful place, Mark Farrell’s entire campaign is centered on his Doom Loop talking points tearing down San Francisco for his own benefit,” Arellano said.
Aaron Peskin, another mayoral candidate, also took issue with Breed for appearing onstage at Larsen’s event. Peskin also criticized her for not owning up to her role in creating the negative narrative people have of San Francisco.
“At the DNC, Breed said that ‘Republicans are trying to turn San Francisco into a bad word,’” Peskin said in a statement. “She should look in the mirror and remember that she already did Republicans’ work for them. It was Breed who talked about ‘all the bulls–t that has destroyed our city.’ It was Breed who talked about the ‘reign of criminals’ and said ‘Downtown is never coming back.’”
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Paul Melbostad, a former chairman of the San Francisco Ethics Commission, told the San Francisco Standard that the Chicago party did not cross the line, provided Breed and Larsen did not discuss campaign expenditures.
“It was hard to believe there was no discussion between him and London Breed or an agent of her campaign about the benefit of attending this event,” Melbostad said. Still, despite any suspicions, there is no evidence such a discussion took place.