The Astroturf Network is using the power of its wealth to sway even so-called down-ballot races, where money frequently plays an even more decisive role. To that end, various players in the Network have donated $150,000 to prosecutor Phoebe Maffei’s candidacy for Superior Court judge. To date, Maffei has outraised her opponent, longtime public defender Alexandra Pray, by a staggering 5-to-1 ratio. 

Among Maffei’s supporters are Jeremy Liew, a venture capitalist and early investor in Snapchat, who gave 10,000, her largest donation to date. Liew is also a generous contributor to Astroturf Groups GrowSF and Neighbors for a Better San Francisco. Just last year, he contributed $500,000 to GrowSF and $200,000 to Neighbors.

The Astroturf Network has long pushed tough-on-crime candidates and causes since it launched with the recall of progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022. When it comes to crime, the Network continues to demonstrate a preference for macho tough talk and posturing over approaches to reducing crime that have been proven to be successful. The Network has recently  broadened its scope beyond crime, using its vast resources to pursue other conservative causes like the privatization of city services and opposition to wealth and corporate taxes.

Maffei has also received money from two Bay Area conservatives with long-standing ties to right-wing causes. Martha Conte, a local Republican who last year donated $75,000 to the Briones Society, a group with a website that claims “cities are in crisis,” having been “surrendered to a spiraling drug, homelessness and mental health epidemic.” Briones’ endorsement guide for the June 2026 elections not only backed Maffei, it “enthusiastically endorsed!” Marie Hurabiell, a conservative gadfly running to replace retiring Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. 

Hurabiell, too, has ties to the Astroturf Network. The onetime Republican and former Trump appointee to the Presidio Trust-she started ConnectedSF, which receives most of its funding from Neighbors for a Better San Francisco. Recently, Hurabiell landed in trouble for homophobic attacks against one of her opponents State Senator Scott Wiener eliciting a sharp rebuke from the city’s gay community and causing Mayor Daniel Lurie, once an ally, to distance himself from her. 

Billionaire William Fisher, son of Gap Inc. founders Doris and Donald Fisher, donated $1000 to Maffei’s campaign. Bay Area baseball fans may be familiar with William Fisher’s brother John who is responsible for taking the A’s out of Oakland. Like Conte, Wiliam Fisher’s been a reliable supporter of right-wing candidates and causes. Most notably he — and his family members — donated nearly $9 million to a dark money group opposing Barack Obama’s 2012 election.  In 2022, he donated nearly $1 million to oppose state Proposition 30, a measure that would have taxed those earning more than $2 million a year. (Prop 30 was defeated).

Although no money has exchanged hands, Maffei has been endorsed by Stop Crime SF, a group largely funded by Neighbors for a Better San Francisco. Stop Crime has been criticized for its “judicial report card,” which used specious data to rate local judges. For example, they gave a failing grade to Michael Begert, a 12-year veteran of the San Francisco Superior Court, using a Yelp-like website to collect anonymous quotes. The handful of “ratings” were the basis for its evaluations.

Begert and fellow Superior Court Judge Patrick Thompson found themselves challenged by Astroturf Network-backed candidates in the March 2024 election. Former Mayor London Breed and current District Attorney Brooke Jenkins had taken to blaming “soft on crime” judges for perceived disorder on city streets. The Astroturf Network groups as well as the San Francisco’s powerful Police Officers Association had manufactured a doom loop narrative to help bolster elect conservative causes. In fact, San Francisco’s crime rates were — and remain at — historical lows.

Begert, who was appointed by that noted socialist former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Thompson, who was tapped by Governor Gavin Newsom, easily beat their challengers. Regardless, the message was clear: Those who failed to pay obeisance to the Astroturf Network and Police Officers Association could find themselves on the defensive, forced to compete in a costly — and potentially nasty — political campaign. As state races, judicial contests are not subject to limits on campaign contributions.

 About $1 million was spent to challenge Begert and Thompson. Liew, Maffei’s top donor, gave $100,000 to Begert’s and Thompson’s challengers Albert “Chip” Zecher and Jean Myungjin Roland. Maffei, and her husband, Google attorney Michael Maffei, have been active in San Francisco campaigns, giving the maximum amounts allowed by law to conservatives including mayoral aspirant Mark Farrell, who earned the nickname MAGA Mark during his 2024 campaign, as well as District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, District Attorney candidate Suzy Loftus and Catherine Stefani in her bid for District 2 supervisor.

 When asked about the disparity in the money they’ve raised, Maffei has said her donations represent a “broad coalition” of support. Pray, her opponent, has said, “I’m comfortable with how I’m raising money because I don’t feel beholden to anybody.”