Uncover the Bay Area's dark money trail.
In the last several years, a network of political pressure groups have emerged from the shadows, secretly funded by a handful of conservative tech and real estate oligarchs worth over $21 billion.
The Phoenix Project is exposing their hidden funding.
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Scott Wiener: The Astroturf Network’s OG
In a few short months, state Senator Scott Wiener may come one step closer to his long-stated goal of replacing Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and attaining a measure of the power that comes with succeeding a Democratic Party icon. Recent polling has Wiener leading what is expected to be a close
The Death of San Francisco’s Environmental Movement
Where did San Francisco’s environmental movement go? This seems a rather naive question since concern for the climate is everywhere in the city’s political language. But that saturation conceals a troubling shift. Environmentalism in San Francisco has not been defeated in public debate. Rather, despite the indisputable reality
Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Spending
A few weeks ago it was revealed that San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie spent about $1 million on consultants to burnish his image during his first year in office. While the tone of much of this coverage was critical, although conceding that it was perfectly legal, there is another way
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The Rise and Fall of the San Francisco Doom Loop
An Astroturf Network channeled anxiety created by the COVID-19 pandemic to ratchet up fears surrounding crime. The narrative was a ruse: San Francisco crime had been on a downward trajectory for decades. What the Astroturf Network wanted were candidates sympathetic to their narrow and selfish interests. They spent vast amounts
All PapersIn the Media
Inside SF's private surveillance state
Ian Firstenberg @ 48 Hills
How Google organized opposition to a California privacy proposal
Khari Johnson and Yue Stella Yu @ CalMatters
Meet your new Neighbors (for a Better San Francisco)
Adam Shanks @ SF Examiner
Dark Money is Flooding SF Politics. These People are Exposing It.
Bunny McFadden @ Broke-Ass Stuart
Trump's techbros want to pave over left-wing San Francisco
Merijn Rengers @ NRC
The next move for one of S.F.’s wealthiest political groups? A new ‘blueprint’ (and podcast).
Margaret Kadifa @ Mission Local