In politics, it’s often not what you know, it’s who you know. In the case of District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, his connection to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has paid handsome dividends for a relative newcomer to San Francisco politics. 

Sherrill can thank Bloomberg, who is a centibillionaire, for his political career in New York and San Francisco. His father, a wealthy hedge fund founder, was a generous donor to the former New York mayor. After graduation, the younger Sherrill landed a job as a Bloomberg aide. 

Sherrill eventually headed west where he was introduced to Mayor London Breed, another Bloomberg pal. Breed endorsed Bloomberg’s hapless 2020 presidential bid while Bloomberg handed Breed an eye watering $1 million for her 2024 re-election bid. Bloomberg also made contributions toward various city initiatives through his charitable foundation. Among them was funding the city’s Office of Innovation, a post that was headed by Sherrill.

In one of her last acts as mayor, Breed picked Sherrill to replace District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who had been elected to the state Assembly. That appointment shocked the neighborhood and political insiders because Sherrill was an unknown in the neighborhood he sought to represent. According to a credible news report, Breed selected Sherrill over more qualified candidates to curry favor with Bloomberg. After losing to Daniel Lurie in the November 2024 election, Breed apparently hoped to land a job with a Bloomberg-connected organization.

A consummate networker, Sherrill wasted no time in cozying up to San Francisco’s newly elected mayor. Sherrill and Lurie have much in common. Both come from extreme privilege. Sherrill’s father is the managing director of Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co., a private investment firm which has raised $1.4 billion to date. Lurie is an heir to the billion-dollar Levi Strauss fortune. Each has a short list of political accomplishments: It was proximity to wealth — not achievement — that was responsible for their rise in local politics. They breathe the rarified air of Pacific Heights, the neighborhood where Lurie was born and raised and where Sherrill, naturally, has made his home.

Sherrill ingratiated himself with Lurie early by supporting his agenda, most notably the mayor’s planning scheme which calls for wide-swathes of the city to be upzoned. It is widely unpopular with Sherrill’s District 2 constituents. In the latest fracas, a 25-story, nearly 800-unit housing complex, has been proposed at the site of the Marina Safeway. Although Lurie — and his ally Sherrill — have sharply criticized the proposal, it is perfectly legal under the Mayor’s recently passed zoning plan. Lurie and Sherrill are crying crocodile tears over a project that their policies facilitated. Only 11% of the units being built will meet the city’s guidelines for affordability.

Sherrill's closeness to Lurie has been helpful in other ways as well. Three separate political action committees (PACs) will spend money to see Sherrill win a June special election and a subsequent November race. The richest, by far, is SF Believes, which has raised more than $1 million from a handful of ultra-wealthy Lurie supporters. SF Believes was started by financier Alec Perkins, who established a pro-Lurie PAC in the 2024 mayoral race. It raised a staggering $6.6 million to see the political neophyte, with little job experience of any kind, elected to the city’s highest office.

Most of the donors to SF Believes hail from the financial services industry. However, one of its largest is a billionaire techie. Jan Koum, the cofounder and former chief executive of WhatsApp, recently contributed $250,000 to SF Believes. (He also supported Lurie’s run for mayor.) Koum has also been a top donor to President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign via a $5 million donation to the MAGA Inc. PAC. He followed that contribution with a $1 million donation to MAGA Inc. last year.

A pro-Sherrill PAC created by GrowSF, the Astroturf Network group led by software engineer Steven Bacio and tech executive Sachin Agarwal, has already raised $252,000 towards its $500,000 goal. Among its contributors are Waymo executive Andrew Chatham who recently donated $26,000. Although it failed to back him in the 2024 mayoral race, GrowSF has grown close to Lurie, imbuing the Mayor’s upzoning plan with its YIMBY philosophy.

Even if he wins the coming election, Stephen Sherrill may find himself in the same predicament as recalled District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, who was squeezed between the demands of his wealthy donors and the needs of his constituents. But before it comes to that, voters would be wise to ask themselves who’s side Sherrill is on.