San Francisco has clearly become a tech town. But is there now a tech voting bloc in The City?
There are thousands of tech workers who live and work in San Francisco. Like other residents, many of them have become more politically active in recent years. Over that same period, tech moguls and political groups with tech-industry ties have flexed their muscles in local elections.
But the local elected officials, consultants and activists who spoke with The Examiner said they didn’t perceive tech workers as comprising a distinct bloc of voters. They don’t generally see tech employees as a constituency to which they specifically have to appeal. Instead, they see those in the industry as having a wide range of viewpoints reflecting the interests and concerns of city residents as a whole.
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The Examiner is monitoring these political power blocs before the November election.
Working in the tech industry can mean a lot of different things, said state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat who represents San Francisco. Some people are venture capitalists, some are startup founders. Some work at large tech companies, some at startups, and others work for themselves. And on many issues, you can find people in the tech industry on opposing sides, he said.
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“I don’t view tech as a monolith,” Wiener said. “And I think that would be disrespectful of folks who are in technology, because … they are a very, very diverse community who hold a lot of different perspectives.”
Twenty years ago, the very idea that San Francisco would have a tech voting bloc would be laughable. The center of the Bay Area’s tech industry was in the South Bay. To the extent that tech workers lived in The City, many of them commuted from there to Silicon Valley.
But a lot has changed in those 20 years. Some of the biggest tech companies in the world are now located in San Francisco. The City itself draws in a greater share of venture-capital investment than nearly all states — and far more than the valley. San Francisco has quickly become the center of the tech industry’s latest focus, artificial intelligence. And the number of tech workers in the area has swelled.
In early 2010, around 46,000 people total worked in the tech industry in San Francisco and San Mateo counties, according to data from the state Employment Development Department. Today that number stands at more than 150,000 — even after the industry shed more than 30,000 jobs in those counties over the last two years.
At least in San Francisco, many of those jobs are filled by people who live in The City rather than commute in, according to Ted Egan, San Francisco’s chief economist, citing U.S. Census data. Only a smaller portion of tech workers who live in San Francisco now commute to jobs outside of The City.
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Current Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, pictured during the opening day of Web Summit 2018 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal, has emerged as a powerful influence in San Francisco politics.
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Wikimedia Commons
In recent years, many of the City’s tech moguls have become much more active in local politics. In 2018, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff helped lead the effort — financially and politically — to pass Proposition C, which raised taxes on businesses to provide housing for homeless people. Venture capitalists David Sacks and Garry Tan were among the leading donors to the 2022 campaigns to recall three school-board members as well as District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and Tan is a board member and backer of local political group GrowSF.
Meanwhile, fellow venture capitalist Michael Moritz founded TogetherSF, another political group that has pushed The City to focus on government dysfunction, homelessness and public-safety issues. And Chris Larsen, the executive chairman of cryptocurrency company Ripple, has become a big donor to various local campaigns.
But it’s unclear that any of those moguls represent anyone other than themselves, local political experts said.
“I don’t know that any of them have individual constituencies,” said one longtime San Francisco political consultant who asked not to be named.
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To be sure, some of the groups those moguls have founded or backed have built loyal followings. But the people affiliated with the groups aren’t exclusively in the tech industry. And the policies they’ve advocated have resonated beyond just techies.
Sachin Agarwal co-founded GrowSF after working for Lyft and Twitter. Initially the group focused on San Francisco’s tech community, which traditionally hadn’t been very engaged in local politics.
Although a lot of tech people — including Tan — have donated to the group, Agarwal said he doesn’t see GrowSF today as representing the tech industry or workers. It doesn’t advocate for policies that would benefit the tech industry, he said.
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Sachin Agarwal, one of the co-founders of Grow SF, pictured on Friday, July 30, 2021.
Examiner file
Instead, it focuses on issues such as public safety and public education that have broad appeal, he said.
The group mailed its voter guide for the March election to every household in The City, and its website in that period drew 100,000 unique visitors, which would represent a sizable chunk of San Francisco’s electorate, Agarwal said.
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“We’re not about any single industry,” he said. “We are about normal people … people with families who have kids, who are homeowners who want to stay in The City long term.”
Meanwhile, not all tech workers are politically aligned with groups such as GrowSF or TogetherSF.
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Supervisor Hillary Ronen said she has numerous friends who work in the tech industry, but they are independent thinkers. While organizations such as GrowSF recruit from the tech community, they don’t represent the values of her friends or other regular tech workers, Ronen said.
“I just don’t think [those groups] represent the community at large,” she said.
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Supervisor Hillary Ronen speaking about the San Francisco Reproductive Freedom Act at Planned Parenthood in San Francisco on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
Craig Lee/The Examiner
Indeed, within San Francisco’s tech community are a lot of diverse viewpoints — even about industry–related policies, local political experts say.
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Wiener said there are people in the community on both sides of the debate over his bill that would attempt to prevent artificial-intelligence models from causing catastrophic harm. While many tech people are intensely in favor of housing construction, some aren’t on board with that movement, he said. They have a range of views on policing and public safety and even on who they favor for mayor in November, he said.
“In my experience, quote-unquote tech people are as diverse in their political views as anyone else,” Wiener said.
Matters such as quality of life, public safety and homelessness are important to many of those in the industry, said the political consultant. But those issues are the top priorities for many San Francisco residents, tech or not, the consultant said.
No matter what industry they work in or where they live, residents generally want the same things from The City — a safe place with good schools, affordable housing, frequent and reliable transit service, and activities they can enjoy with friends and family, said Maggie Muir, a political consultant who works with Wiener and Mayor London Breed.
“Whether you work in tech or any of those other places, you all want the same thing,” Muir said.
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Many of those items are the focus of The City’s so-called moderates. But just because tech workers prioritize such things doesn’t mean that they also ascribe to the pro-business policies favored by such centrists, the consultant said.
In fact, folks in the industry can’t be counted on to support policies that might benefit their own companies, such as local tax reform, even when those policies are popular, the political consultant said.
Instead, it’s not unusual “that tech employees will go out of their way to vote against the interests of their employer,” the consultant said.
The November ballot will offer an example that’s arguably along those lines. Proposition L would put a new tax on Uber, Lyft and Waymo to help address the huge budget deficit faced in coming years by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
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A Waymo autonomous vehicle on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco on Monday, June 10, 2024.
Craig Lee/The Examiner
Uber is one of The City’s leading tech companies and one of its biggest private employers. The ride-hailing services it and Lyft offer took off due in no small part to The City’s tech workers. And Waymo is the leading developer of a new iteration of technology — autonomous vehicles and robotaxi services.
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But those companies have also drawn plenty of criticism over the years, charged with helping undermine the traditional cab industry, treating human drivers as second-class workers, and — in the case of Waymo — offering a service that’s under-tested and potentially unsafe.
So one might think that the measure might come out of a backlash against tech, but no: The three authors of the proposition all work or have worked in the industry. Many of the people they’ve signed to support it are in the industry.
Although Uber opposes the measure, Prop. L’s backers say don’t see it as particularly antitech. Instead, they see it as a measure that would not only benefit Muni but the ride-hailing services also, said Lian Chang, one of its authors. By keeping the transit system healthy, the measure would encourage people to continue to use the system instead of driving, thus keeping the streets less congested for Uber and Lyft drivers, she said.
“If Muni craters, we’re looking at a lot more traffic,” Chang said. “That is not good for anyone.”
For her part, Chang said, she sees support for the measure among tech workers as indicative of what actually might be a unifying theme among the community: While many in tech do support transit, what they actually have more broadly in common is what she called a “problem-solving attitude.”
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Technically minded people love to solve problems; it’s what they do for a living, Chang said. Those who work in the industry have a lot of experience collaborating to find solutions, she said. And especially as the community has become more politically active in recent years, they’ve been looking for ways to address The City’s problems.
“There’s a lot of political diversity in tech, so it doesn’t all go in one way,” Chang said. “But there is that problem-solving vibe.”
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – AUGUST 10: Malik Mustapha #43 of the San Francisco 49ers walks of the field after the game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on August 10, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO – With four minutes and 44 seconds left in the first half of the San Francisco 49ers’ first pre-season game against the Tennessee Titans, Malik Mustapha made a name for himself.
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The 22-year-old rookie safety had a monster hit that invigorated the 49ers’ defense attempting to make a goal-line stand.
Four days after the electrifying tackle, in a one–on-one interview with KTVU, Mustapha said that was just the beginning.
Right now, he’s focused on adjusting to life in the NFL both on and off the field.
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Mustapha, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, had never been to the Bay Area before being selected by the 49ers, and like many first-timers, he was shocked by the cold summer weather.
“I didn’t realize how cold San Francisco got,” Mustapha said with a laugh. “Santa Clara might be 80, next thing you know, it feels like 40 or something when I get to San Francisco.”
The first thing he did in San Francisco? Rent a small yellow GoCar and take in all the sights, sounds and food.
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As a self-described Hibachi connoisseur, he said he has yet to find any Hibachi in the Bay Area that compares to that of the South, where he is from.
He was disappointed at the lack of “YumYum” sauce, a mayo-based Japanese steak house sauce mainly used on grilled shrimp, chicken and vegetables.
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“One of the waitresses looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for it,” Mustaha said laughing. “That was an adjustment for me.”
On the field, Mustapha wants to be a sponge and soak up as much knowledge from his teammates as he can.
Fellow safety Talanoa Hufanga took Mustapha under his wing when he arrived in Santa Clara, even inviting him to his daughter’s first birthday party.
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That gesture made a big impact on Mustapha, who moved across the country without any family nearby.
“It was nice being around a lot of family, me coming here alone, it’s an adjustment, but at the same time I know I am here,” Mustapha said. “I know what I want to set up for my future.”
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Off the field, Mustapha’s siblings are the driving force behind his desire to dominate on the field.
“They came into my life at a young age and changed my life for the better,” Mustapha said. “I had to be a second mom to them, but I depended on them as much as they depended on me.”
Mariam, 10, and Muhamahed, 12, live more than 7,800 miles away in Nigeria with Mustapha’s father.
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“I rarely see them, that’s why I’m trying to get to a point where I do what I’m supposed to do and get them over here and move them back to the States,” Mustapha said.
He wants to bring his siblings to the U.S. to finish school and go to college, and Mustapha hopes football will be the catalyst to make that a reality.
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“I always live by a quote: prove yourself right don’t prove other people wrong,” Mustapha said. “I don’t think I’ve arrived in any shape or form but at the same time I feel like I’ve taken a step in the right direction.”
The San Francisco Giants were able to break their losing streak on Friday against the Atlanta Braves and will look to start a winning streak as they start a two-game series with the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night.
The Giants lost four games in a row before Friday’s win. Though they are back to a .500 record, their playoff hopes have taken a huge hit thanks to their recent struggles. They have no hopes of winning the NL West and are three games out of a Wild Card spot.
If San Francisco can take advantage of an Athletics squad that has the third-worst record in MLB with a sweep, they’ll be feeling much better about their odds.
Tyler Fitzgerald has continued to be a huge source of offense for the team through their struggles, so they will be looking to him to keep the hits coming.
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Fitzgerald has a slashing line of .350/.385/.683 in the month of August, making him the hottest bat on the team.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be rookie starter Hayden Birdsong.
Birdsong got off to a nice start to his career but has pitched very poorly in his last two outings. He and the coaching staff will be looking to do things a bit differently on Saturday.
He has a 17.05 ERA over 6.1 innings pitched in his last two starts. Batters are slugging an absurd .345/.424/.897 against him in that time. It’s a small sample size, but a worrying sign for the rookie.
The 22-year-old has given up a lot of home runs this season. Luckily for him, the Athletics are one of the weaker teams in the league in terms of power. It could be a nice matchup for Birdsong.
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San Francisco’s offense will be taking on rookie Osvaldo Bido for the first time.
Bido, unlike Birdsong, has played his best baseball to start August. He has a 1.50 ERA over 12 innings pitched over his last two games. Batters are slashing just .195/.283/.268 against him.
The two offenses that he’s faced have been the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays, both of which have been better than the Giants as of late.
Oddsmakers have this one slightly into San Francisco’s favor as road favorites. The moneyline odds are -120 for the Giants and EVEN for Oakland. The runline is -1.5 with +145 odds. The over/under is at 7.5 which is a bit below average.
The San Francisco Giants have been superstar-hunting throughout the past few offseasons. Unfortunately, a lot has gone down since.
They couldn’t land Aaron Judge after reports that he was signing with the team. Carlos Correa also agreed to a $350 million deal before the Giants backed out due to a medical concern.
They landed Blake Snell, one of the top arms in Major League Baseball, but it’s different than landing a hitter. At the end of the day, hitting home runs sells tickets. The front office understands that, the fan base understands that, and so do the players.
There will be perhaps a bigger star than Judge and Correa on the market this year. Juan Soto of the New York Yankees hits free agency unless he gets a deal done within the next few months, and he’s projected to land a $500-plus million contract.
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It’s uncertain if San Francisco would be willing to hand out that type of money, but given the success he’s found and his age, it’d be well worth the investment.
Some insiders believe the team will get involved.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post listed landing spots for the left-handed slugger, listing the Giants at No. 4.
“They showed interest in a Soto trade, and they’ve been trying to land a big positional star for years. Is a pitchers’ park a dealbreaker?”
Bringing up the ballpark is an interesting thing to talk about. Soto, who’s on the trajectory to be an all-time great, might be scared away by not playing in a hitter-friendly ballpark.
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If he stays with the Yankees, he’d have the opportunity to play in one of the more hitter-friendly ballparks in Major League Baseball.
However, this situation is likely going to come down to money. If New York offered him $500 million and San Francisco offered him $575 million, he could prefer the extra $75 million
Agent Scott Boras has never been one to take less than he believes his client deserves. With Soto, who could genuinely reset the market for hitters, it’s safe to say that he’ll be searching for the top dollar available.
The Giants have some other holes they need to fill, so handing over $500 plus million to one player might not be the right decision. However, it’ll be a step in the right direction and could interest future free agents, which is very important.
If they want a star, nothing should stop their pursuit of signing one.