The latter included future Ethics Commissioner Quentin Kopp, then a State Senator, who authored the ballot handbook’s paid argument against Proposition K. Regardless, the measure passed.
[13] Kamala Harris faced a campaign finance ethics violation in 2003 when she broke a voluntary $211,000 spending cap for the San Francisco district attorney's race.
[14][15] The commission conducted an extensive investigation into official misconduct charges against Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi stemming from a domestic violence incident with his wife Eliana Lopez in 2012.
[16][17] In August 2012, after lengthy deliberations, the commission found by a 4-1 vote that Mirkarimi had engaged in official misconduct by inflicting physical violence on his wife and pleading guilty to false imprisonment charges.
[18] After further review and public hearings, including Mirkarimi's own testimony asking for redemption,[19] the Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 in October 2012 to reinstate him as sheriff, allowing him to keep his job.
[21][22] The violation occurred when Farrell's campaign consultant, Chris Lee, coordinated with the independent committee, which received large donations from Thomas Coates ($141,000) and Dede Wilsey ($50,000).
This penalty arose from allegations that he improperly used funds from a political action committee (PAC) he established to support a ballot measure (Proposition D) for his own mayoral campaign, effectively circumventing the city's $500 contribution limit for candidates.
[33] This case marked the first time a sitting mayor in San Francisco settled such a matter, highlighting the significance of the penalties imposed by the Ethics Commission.
The specific ethics violations that led to Breed's fine included three incidents:[34][35] In October 2024, the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance Task Force unanimously ruled that Breed and City Attorney David Chiu had violated the city's Open Government and Sunshine Ordinance by routinely deleting texts involving government business from their personal phones.
Although the commission found no wrongdoing by Riff City Strategies or its president Jess Montejano, the failure to disclose these payments violated San Francisco's campaign finance disclosure laws.